Protestors storm 18th green at TPC River Highlands near conclusion of Travelers Championship

Things got weird on the 18th green at TPC River Highlands on Sunday afternoon, near the end of the Travelers Championship. Just as Tom Kim was getting ready for a birdie putt to force a playoff between him and Scottie Scheffler, six protestors came onto the green with smoke bombs and decided to spray paint the green. Police immediately stormed out onto the green and put them into handcuffs, tackling some of them to the ground.

PROTESTORS STORM THE 18TH AT TPC RIVER HIGHLANDS@NUCLRGOLF @PGATUOR @GolfDigest pic.twitter.com/JSjcYidOaR

— TrackingScheffler (@SchefflerLegion) June 23, 2024

The protestors were reportedly with “Extinction Rebellion”. The damage to the 18th green forced the tour to move the playoff to another hole. Shortly after the conclusion of the tournament, we got some clarity on what happened and why it happened. Climate protestors said they were sounding the alarm on extreme weather events. They wore shirts that read: “No Golf on a Dead Planet”.

They also issued a brief statement, claiming responsibility for the chaos on hole No. 18. “With this action, Extinction Rebellion is NOT protesting any individual or organization. Rather, the protest highlights the worldwide danger of climate breakdown. Case in point: the last 13 months were the hottest on record, with extreme weather events around the globe. The activists pointed out that natural disasters are already causing large-scale loss of human, animal, and plant life, as well as significant damage to infrastructure, property, and agriculture.”

Meanwhile, the green finally got cleaned up and golf action got back underway. Once the protestors were cleared, Tom Kim drilled his birdie putt to send him and Scottie Scheffler to a two-man playoff. Both players were at 22-under par. Coincidentally enough, both players also celebrated their birthdays earlier last week. Scheffler’s record is 1-1 in playoffs, and this is Kim’s first playoff.

Scottie Scheffler continued his historic run at the Travelers

Scottie Scheffler ended up prevailing in the playoff in the Travelers Championship, bringing home his sixth win in his past 10 starts!

It’s a truly historic stretch that will be tough to top in PGA Tour history. Only four players have ever won six or more times on the PGA Tour in one season: Tiger Woods (six times), Vijay Singh, Nick Price, and Scottie Scheffler. His season has already been historic, and he’s not even finished yet, which is pretty incredible. Scheffler is the first player since Tiger Woods (2009) to win six or more times on the PGA Tour in a single season.

According to Spotrac, Scheffler has won $27.7 million in 2024, putting him in first place in that category. For his career, he’s already pulled in $95.2 million, ranking him with the 5th most all-time. He’s more than doubled the earnings of any other PGA Tour golfer this season with his six wins. And if he can clear the $100 million mark by season’s end (which appears very likely), he’ll be just the fourth player in PGA Tour history to earn over $100 million.

Other notable scores on Sunday evening

There were plenty of other players that went extremely low at the Travelers. Tom Hoge went low on Sunday, firing a 62, which put him in a tie for third place at 20-under par. Sungjae Im tied him for third place at 20-under. Patrick Cantlay finished in a tie for fifth place at 18-under. Tony Finau continued his recent stretch of stellar play, finishing in a tie for fifth (18-under). Justin Thomas found his groove, shooting 18-under to tie for fifth.

Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa fired 16-under par, finishing in a tie for 13th place.