Police Tackle Protesters At Travelers Championship, Crowd Boos & Chants "U-S-A"
With the Travelers Championship coming down to the final hole of the tournament, five protesters ran onto the 18th green spraying some sort of substance and causing a massive delay in the action. Tom Kim trailed Scottie Scheffler by one shot but hit his approach in close to give himself a chance to send the tournament into a playoff.
Before either he or Scheffler could hit their all-important putts on the final hole of the Travelers Championship, the goons ran toward the green. One entered the greenside bunker and another threw red powder in the middle of the green.
Police were quick to respond and tackle the protesters. The crowd let the losers know that they did not care for the display. First, they booed. Then, the gallery moved into a chant of "U-S-A, U-S-A." Next, the massive gathering of spectators began chanting "ass-hole, ass-hole" and CBS quickly cut the audio from the television broadcast.
Then, a second loud "U-S-A" chant bellowed from the crowd as the grounds crew quickly moved to try and clean the substances off the green.
Apparently, these were "Just Stop Oil" protesters or, as some people may call them, climate terrorists. Of course, they chose to destroy some grass and sand in the name of the environment, which seems like an odd way to send a message about saving the planet.
UPDATE: Scottie Scheffler won the Travelers Championship with a par on the first playoff hole
Undeterred, Tom Kim hit one of the all-time great putts after police cleared the garbage from the 18th green. Scheffler just missed his tournament-winning birdie putt and then Kim needed to make his to force a playoff.
That's exactly what happened.
This has to be the best putt on the 72nd green since…
Incredible theater as the Travelers Championship moved into a playoff between Scheffler and Kim. The tournament uses the 18th hole as the first playoff hole, so tournament officials had to move the hole location to a different spot on the green so that the substances that the protesters sprayed on the green wouldn't affect the playoff.
What a way to finish the final signature event of the PGA Tour season!