The protesters sprayed white and purple powder, leaving stains on the grass earlier than Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia completed their rounds. At least one member of the group was carrying a white T-shirt with the phrases “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET” in black lettering on the entrance.
Scottie Scheffler gained the championship in a playoff, ready out a disruption for his sixth victory of the yr. That’s essentially the most wins in a single PGA Tour season since Tiger Woods had six in 2009. And Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked participant, nonetheless has two months to go.
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“I used to be scared for my life,” Bhatia mentioned in regards to the protesters after ending in a tie for fifth — 4 strokes behind Scheffler, who earned his sixth victory of the yr. “I did not even actually know what was taking place. … But fortunately the cops had been there and stored us protected, as a result of that is, you already know, that is simply bizarre stuff.”
After the protesters had been tackled by police and brought off, Scheffler left a possible 26-foot clincher from the perimeter on the suitable fringe of the cup, then tapped in for par. Kim, who trailed by one stroke heading into the ultimate gap, sank a 10-foot birdie putt to tie Scheffler and ship the match to a sudden-death playoff.
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Kim mentioned the protest took his thoughts off the strain.
“It sort of slowed issues down,” he mentioned. “It took the that means of the putt away for a second. Because for the previous 17 and a half holes all you are serious about is golf, and out of the blue when that occurs your thoughts goes into an entire — like, you are nearly not even enjoying golf anymore. I believed it was a dream for a second.”
The crowd surrounding the 18th inexperienced heckled the protesters by yelling profanities and cheered the police who intervened.
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After the gamers putted out in regulation, staff with leaf blowers got here out to wash off the remaining powder, and the opening location was moved for the playoff, which started on No. 18. Scheffler beat Kim with a par on the primary playoff gap.
“They left a variety of marks on the greens, which isn’t proper for us gamers — particularly when two guys are attempting to win a golf match,” Kim mentioned. “But I’m very grateful for the tour and the tour safety for dealing with that actually effectively and making us gamers really feel loads safer.”
Scheffler’s victory got here just a few weeks after prosecutors dropped legal fees towards him on May 29, lower than two weeks after he was arrested exterior the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.
Scheffler was initially charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree legal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding alerts from officers directing site visitors when he was arrested exterior Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club, which was internet hosting the match.
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell instructed a choose his workplace could not transfer ahead with the fees towards the world’s prime golfer primarily based on the proof and he moved to dismiss the case.
After the fees had been dropped, Scheffler said on social media that he did not maintain any unwell will towards the detective who arrested him.
