“It was definitely a bit weird” - Scottie Scheffler thanks police for stepping in during climate protesters’ outrage at Travelers Championship
Climate protesters caused chaos on Sunday as they stormed the No. 18 hole at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell. The activists caused a brief delay in play during the final round of the PGA Tour event wearing “No Golf On a Dead Planet” shirts. Police officers stepped in and took custody of the protesters using smoke cans at TPC River Highlands.
Following this, Scottie Scheffler applauded the cops for their timely action. Speaking after his Travelers Championship win, the 27-year-old golfer said the players, including him, were “very grateful” for the officers’ intervention. The Masters champion dubbed the outrage a “bit weird.”
The in-form golfer admitted that the attack could’ve led to a “stressful situation” without timely step in from the officers.
Speaking in his winner’s press conference, Scottie Scheffler said (at 3:23):
“It (the climate protesters’ outrage) was definitely a bit weird. I saw one person out of the corner of my eye and then I saw about five police officers spring around. And from my point of view, they got it taken care of pretty dang fast. So, we were very grateful for that. It seemed to go by really quickly to us.
But when something like that happens, you don't really know what's happening so it can kind of rattle you a little bit just because there's people running around the green and there's police officers running around the green and you don't know if they're peaceful, you don't know what they're doing… So, it can be a bit stressful."
Scottie Scheffler noted that he had a chat with Akshay Bhatia as the unfortunate events were taking place. He stated that Tom Kim also helped him ‘calm down.’ The ace golfer claimed that players would ‘hate’ to have the tournament paused or cancelled due to such incidents.
It is pertinent to note that Scottie Scheffler managed to remain calm during the outrage and take the win.
Climate activism organization says climate change is adversely affecting golf events
The climate protesters’ outrage at the Travelers Championship caused the event officials to cut a new hole for the playoff, avoiding lingering debris. Scottie Scheffler played on against Tom Kim and secured his sixth tour win in 10 starts.
Extinction Rebellion, a climate activism organization, took responsibility for the protests. In a news release, the organization stated that golf is “heavily reliant on good weather” and claimed that several events were getting affected due to inclement weather.
The group’s release read:
“Climate catastrophe threatens everything we love on this planet, including golf... Many tournaments have been canceled due to inclement weather. 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.”
Apart from Scottie Scheffler, players like Akshay Bhatia also noted that they were being affected by the protests on Sunday.
It is pertinent to note that this isn’t the first time activists from Extinction Rebellion disrupted a sports event. The group also caused chaos at last year’s US Open tennis semifinal. The match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was delayed over 45 minutes after protesters glued their feet to the ground.