A golfer who was caught up in a climate change protest that disrupted the end of a PGA tournament in the US has said he was “scared for my life”.
Akshay Bhatia was finishing his final round of the Travellers Championship in Connecticut, alongside Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim, when Extinction Rebellion activists stormed the 18th green, spraying coloured smoke and powder.
Six protesters, some of whom were wearing T-shirts with the slogan “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET”, were tackled by police and arrested following the stunt on Sunday afternoon.
Bhatia said: “I was scared for my life. I didn’t even really know what was happening. But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that’s, you know, that’s just weird stuff.”
It came after the tournament was also delayed on Saturday when three people were injured after lightning struck a tree close to the course.
A protester faces off with a police officer. Pic: AP
The protest caused a delay to play of around five minutes. The tournament was later won by Scheffler in a play-off.
The world number one, who was himself arrested while driving during last month’s PGA Championship, praised the police response. He said officers “got it taken care of pretty dang fast, and so we were very grateful for that”.
Mr Scheffler added: “When something like that happens, you don’t really know what’s happening, so it can kind of rattle you a little bit.
“That can be a stressful situation, and you would hate for the tournament to end on something weird happening because of a situation like that.”
Scottie Scheffler (left), Akshay Bhatia (middle) and a member of staff (right) wait as police remove the protesters. Pic: Reuters
Extinction Rebellion blamed climate change for the lightning and wider storm on Saturday, telling the AP news agency it was “due to increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather conditions”.
“Golf, more than other events, is heavily reliant on good weather. Golf fans should therefore understand better than most the need for strong, immediate climate action,” the group said.
Police made six arrests. Pic: AP
Some of the crowd around the 18th green booed and shouted insults at the protesters during the incident. At one point they also chanted “U-S-A”.
The smoke bombs and powder left behind a white and red residue on the putting surface, which was cleaned up by groundstaff using leaf blowers.
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Fellow golfer Kim said: “They left a lot of marks on the greens, which is not right for us players – especially when two guys are trying to win a golf tournament.
“But I’m very grateful for the tour and the tour security for handling that really well and making us players feel a lot safer.”
