Travelers Championship final round
-22 S Scheffler (US), T Kim (Kor); -20 SJ Im (Kor), T Hoge (US); -18 J Thomas (US), P Cantlay (US), T Finau (US), A Bhatia (US)
Selected others: -17 S Lowry (Ire); -14 T Fleetwood (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco); -12 S Power (Ire); -9 M Fitzpatrick (Eng)
World number one Scottie Scheffler beat Tom Kim in a play-off at the Travelers Championship to claim his sixth PGA Tour win of the season.
The conclusion of the final round was interrupted when a group of six climate protestors ran on to the 18th green as the last group were reading their putts.
They let off smoke bombs that sprayed powder on the putting surface and some wore t-shirts with “No golf on a dead planet” printed on them.
They were detained by police and the crowd chanted ‘USA, USA, USA’ as they were led off the TPC River Highlands course in Cromwell, Connecticut.
When play resumed about five minutes later, Scheffler narrowly missed a birdie putt that would have clinched victory and South Korea’s Kim converted his birdie attempt to force a play-off.
The extra holes were scheduled to start on the 18th so organisers moved the hole location on the green while the powder was cleared up.
Scheffler won on the first play-off hole with a par – with Kim unable to get up and down from a plugged lie in a greenside bunker – to become the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1962 to win six times before July.
“It’s pretty special,” said Scheffler. “It’s been a great season, I’ve been fortunate to come away with some wins and it’s been a lot of fun.
“Tom played his heart out. He’s a great player, a great champion and it was fun battling with him.”
Scheffler and Kim finished tied on 22 under par – two clear of Tom Hoge and Sung-Jae Im – after closing rounds of 65 and 66 respectively.
Extinction Rebellion protestors charged
Extinction Rebellion later claimed responsibility for the protest in a post on social media.
The protestors have been charged, external with first degree criminal mischief, first degree criminal trespass, and breach of peace.
They were released on a bond and are due in court on 1 July.
American Akshay Bhatia, who was in the final group, said: “I was scared for my life. I didn’t even really know what was happening. All of a sudden, four, five people come out running on the green.
“It was kind of weird. But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe.”
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, because there’s people running around the green and there’s police officers running around and you don’t know if they’re peaceful, so it can be a bit stressful.”
