CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Six individuals protesting local weather change stormed the 18th inexperienced whereas the leaders had been lining up their putts on the ultimate gap of regulation on the PGA Tour’s Vacationers Championship on Sunday, delaying the end for about 5 minutes.
The protesters sprayed white and pink powder, leaving stains on the grass earlier than Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia completed their rounds. At the very least one member of the group was carrying a white T-shirt with the phrases “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET” in black lettering on the entrance.
“I used to be scared for my life,” Bhatia mentioned after ending in a tie for fifth — 4 strokes behind Scheffler, who earned his sixth victory of the yr. “I didn’t even actually know what was taking place. … However fortunately the cops had been there and saved us protected, as a result of that’s, you already know, that’s simply bizarre stuff.”
After the protesters had been tackled by police and brought off, Scheffler left a possible 26-foot clincher from the perimeter on the best fringe of the cup, then tapped in for par. Kim, who trailed by one stroke heading into the ultimate gap, sank a 10-foot birdie putt to tie Scheffler and ship the match to a sudden-death playoff.
Kim mentioned the protest took his thoughts off the strain.
“It sort of slowed issues down,” he mentioned. “It took the which means of the putt away for a second. As a result of for the previous 17 and a half holes all you’re occupied with is golf, and abruptly when that occurs your thoughts goes into a whole — like, you’re virtually not even enjoying golf anymore. I believed it was a dream for a second.”
The group surrounding the 18th inexperienced heckled the protesters by yelling profanities and cheered the police who intervened.
After the gamers putted out in regulation, employees with leaf blowers got here out to wash off the remaining powder, and the opening location was moved for the playoff, which started on No. 18. Scheffler beat Kim with a par on the primary playoff gap.
“They left plenty of marks on the greens, which isn’t proper for us gamers — particularly when two guys try to win a golf match,” Kim mentioned. “However I’m very grateful for the tour and the tour safety for dealing with that basically effectively and making us gamers really feel quite a bit safer.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf