Protesters storm 18th green, delay finish of Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, Conn. — The final round of Sunday’s Travelers Championship was delayed for several minutes after six protesters ran onto the 18th green and sprayed white and red powder on the putting surface.

The protesters had cans and sprayed residue on the green, Golf Digest reported.

The group appeared to be environmental protesters, with four individuals wearing white shirts with the message, “No golf on a dead planet,” according to the golf news website. Police officers captured and escorted the individuals off the green.

The incident occurred as the leaders were lining up their putts at No. 18 at TPC River Highlands, ESPN reported. Scottie Scheffler, who was facing a birdie putt to win the tournament, was paired with Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia, according to the sports news outlet.

Scheffler missed his 26-foot putt and tapped in for par, and Kim sank a 10-foot birdie putt to send the tournament into a playoff.

Workers with leaf blowers cleaned off the remaining residue, ESPN reported. The location of the 18th hole was moved before the playoff as Scheffler and Kim prepared to play No. 18 again.

Scheffler won the one-hole playoff to earn his sixth victory of the 2024 season.

“You don’t really know what is going on, you don’t really understand the situation,” Scheffler said during a post-match interview with CBS Sports. “There’s people running around everywhere and you don’t really know what’s going to happen.”

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