Akshay Bhatia Says He Was 'Scared For My Life' As Protesters Stormed Green At Travelers Championship

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Even for viewers at home, it was nerve-wracking to see protesters storm the 18th green during Sunday's final round of the Travelers Championship. For Akshay Bhatia, who had a front-row seat to the ridiculousness, he admitted to being nervous for his own life.

With the final group of eventual winner Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim, and Bhatia standing on the 18th green, a group of environmental activists flooded from the crowd while spraying some sort of red and white painting substance on the putting surface. One of the clowns made his way to a greenside bunker as well, before police officers dominated the group and escorted them off the grounds in fast fashion.

While it was quite a spectacle to watch from afar, Bhatia wasn't exactly entertained by the protesters having their seven seconds of fame.

Speaking with CBS after finishing in a tie for fifth, Bhatia was honest with his reaction to what just took place, explaining that he feared for his life in the moment.

"I mean, I was scared for my life. I didn’t even really know what was happening," Bhatia explained. "I was in shock and my heart rate was high. It got low and then once that kind of happened I was just freaked out, I just tried get over where everyone was."

You certainly can't blame Bhatia for feeling legitimate fear as a group of angry protesters started running directly at him and others holding some sort of item in one hand. 

The scene looked like the one that's becoming far too familiar on liberal college campuses around the country, but to see that unfold at a PGA Tour event in small-town Connecticut wasn't exactly expected.

Bhatia describing the scene as "just weird stuff" is spot on, as it was very weird stuff indeed.

The group who took responsibility for the protests is called Extinction Rebellion and adopted the slogan of ‘No Golf On A Dead Planet’ for their ‘cause’ on Sunday.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.