Chaos erupted at the Travelers Championship. Protesters stormed the green during the 18th hole at the TPC River Highlands. The Travelers Championship ended in a chaotic scene with security guards tackling protesters. It's sure to be a viral moment.
Videos by Wide Open Country
CBS announcer Jim Nantz said that there were at least four protesters. Police detained the police, tackling to the ground. However, protesters set off smoke bombs and also started dumping white and red powder on the ground. It was a scene of utter chaos and terror for those watching.
"They just came flying down the hill, right out of the gallery," Nantz said.
Damn you people. This is GOLF. Not a rock concert. pic.twitter.com/EOmBCdrboc
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) June 23, 2024
David Dusek, from Golfweek, shot a video showing police leading five people away. Four wore T-shirts that read NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET. The crowd began chanting "USA! USA! USA!" as they left. According to AP, there were six protesters in total.
"I was scared for my life," golfer AkshayBhatia said. "I didn't even really know what was happening. All of a sudden, four, five people come out running on the green. Yeah, I mean, it was kind of weird. But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that's, you know, that's just weird stuff. ... 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."
Protesters Hijack Golf Tournament
It took about 15 minutes from start to finish. So why were they protesting? It appears to be climate protesters. They previously blocked the entrance to the International Golf Club at the DP World Tour's KLM Open in the Netherlands on the same day. That delayed that tournament by 2 hours.
"It was just more like it kind of took like the meaning of the putt kind of a way for a second," Tom Kim said of the incident. "Because like for the past 17 and a half holes all you're thinking about is golf, and suddenly when that happens you're just like, your mind goes into a complete - like, you're almost not even playing golf anymore. ... I thought it was a dream for a second."
Kim continued, "Like the security guards were tackling people and people were getting arrested, like it's just, it's really hard to see nowadays. Like I said, again, it kind of felt like it took my mind off of the moment and just kind of realized what was happening and obviously even though those people did something bad, you still don't want them to get hurt, because obviously the police are trying to protect the players and stuff, I get it, but you still don't want people to get hurt."
He added, "And I think it just kind of personally just took my mind away from golf a little bit and worried about something else."
