Climate protesters storm 18th hole during final day of Travelers Championship

A group of climate change protesters stormed as the leaders were lining up their putts on the final hole at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut on Sunday, delaying the finish for about five minutes.

The protesters sprayed white and red powder, leaving stains on the grass before Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia finished their rounds. At least one of the group was wearing a white T-shirt that read, “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET.”

“I mean, I was scared for my life,” said Bhatia. “I didn’t even really know what was happening. All of a sudden, four, five people come running on the green ... 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 to get over where everyone was. It was hard to do it, I think it was just weird.”

After the protesters were tackled by police and taken off, Scheffler missed a potential 26-foot title clinching putt, before he tapped in for par. Kim, who trailed by one stroke heading into the final hole, sank a 10ft birdie putt to tie with Scheffler and send the tournament to a sudden-death playoff.

Kim said the interruption had actually helped his game.

“It kind of slowed things down,” he said. “It took the meaning of the putt away for a second. Because for the past 17 and a half holes all you’re thinking about is golf, and suddenly when that happens your mind goes into a complete – like, you’re almost not even playing golf anymore. I thought it was a dream for a second.”

Scheffler, the world No 1, won with a par on the first playoff hole, the 18th. After the players finished in regulation, workers with leaf blowers came out to clean off the remaining powder, and the hole location was moved before the playoff.

The crowd surrounding the 18th green heckled the protesters with chants of “USA”, yelled profanities and cheered the police who intervened.

“I think fortunately for Tom and me, we were both out there, we’re great friends, and so we were able to sit there and kind of relax each other before, because you don’t really know what’s going on, you don’t really understand the situation,” Scheffler said after his victory. “There’s people running around everywhere and you don’t really know what’s going to happen. So it was a bit confusing. Fortunately, the police did a great job of getting everything in order very quickly. I don’t know how quick it was, but it seemed really fast to us. So we’re very thankful for them.”

Extinction Rebellion, who have a history of disrupting events around the world, claimed responsibility for the protest. In a statement emailed to the Associated Press, the group blamed climate change for an electrical storm that injured two people at a home near the course on Saturday.

“This was of course due to increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather conditions,” the statement said. “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.”

Climate protesters have interrupted major US sports events in the past. Last September, the US Open tennis semi-final between Coco Gauff and Karolína Muchová was interrupted, with one of the protesters glueing their feet to the floor of the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium.