Climate activists disrupted the final round of the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut on June 23, 2024.
Five protesters from Extinction Rebellion ran onto the 18th green and left a powdery substance on the putting surface.
The protest delayed play for several minutes and occurred while leaders Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler were preparing to finish their rounds.
Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler described the experience as unsettling.
Climate activists disrupted the final round of the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, on June 23, 2024. Five protesters from Extinction Rebellion ran onto the 18th green during a crucial moment in the tournament and left a powdery substance on the putting surface.
The protest delayed play for several minutes as police quickly removed the demonstrators. The incident occurred while leaders Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler were preparing to finish their rounds, with both players needing strong performances to make it into a playoff.
Scheffler, who went on to win the tournament in a playoff against Kim, described the experience as unsettling.
Five protesters ran onto the 18th green and left a powdery substance on the putting surface, delaying play for several minutes.
Protesters wore shirts reading ‘No golf on a dead planet’.
Accuracy
Police quickly removed the protesters and allowed final group, including Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler to finish the hole in a tie.
No damage was done to the 18th green after the powder was removed.
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(95%)
The authors do not make any explicit fallacious statements in the article. However, there are some instances of inflammatory rhetoric from the protesters and fans towards the protesters. The authors do not endorse or condone this language.
]Fans can be heard booing and yelling obscenities at the protesters[.
The moment temporarily took [Kim's] mind off the importance of making his putt because he was worried about people getting hurt[.
Extinction Rebellion claimed responsibility for the protest, blaming climate change for an electrical storm that injured two people near the course on Saturday.
Extinction Rebellion claimed responsibility for the protest, citing a lightning strike as an example of extreme weather conditions.
Accuracy
The protest disrupted the final round of the PGA Tour event at Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.
Five protestors stormed the 18th green and were quickly apprehended by local police.
Deception
(80%)
The article contains selective reporting as the author only reports on the actions of the protestors and their impact on Tom Kim's performance during the tournament, without mentioning any potential counterarguments or context regarding climate change or protests. The author also uses emotional manipulation by quoting Tom Kim expressing his concern for the safety of those involved in the protest and his personal distress caused by it.
The security guards were tackling people and people were getting arrested, like it’s just, it’s really hard to see nowadays.
Tom Kim: The security guards were tackling people and people were getting arrested, like it’s just, it’s really hard to see nowadays. ... It kind of personally just took my mind away from golf a little bit and worried about something else.
As Scheffler was lining up his first putt five protestors stormed the 18th green from all angles. They were quickly apprehended by local police and pinned to the green before being taken away, but not before leaving white and red colored residue on the green.
Tom Kim made his birdie putt to force the playoff, but tournament officials determined to move the pin position for the playoff, taking it closer to the front edge of the green and away from the most significant damage.
The drama began on the 18th hole, with Tom Kim trailing Scottie Scheffler by a stroke and needing a birdie – and Scheffler par – to force a playoff. Kim hit what had to be one of the best approach shots of his life from 131 yards out – the third bounce on the green landed an inch to the right of the cup, and settled 10 feet away.
Fallacies
(95%)
The author makes an appeal to emotion when describing the protestors' actions as 'hard to see nowadays' and Kim's reaction as taking his mind off golf. This is a form of informal fallacy known as an appeal to pity or emotion.
The security guards were tackling people and people were getting arrested, like it’s just, it’s really hard to see nowadays.
It kind of felt like it took my mind off of the moment and just kind of realized what was happening and obviously even though those people did something bad, you still don’t want them to get hurt ... the police are trying to protect the players and stuff, I get it, but you still don’t want people to get hurt
Bias
(95%)
The author expresses sympathy for the protestors and acknowledges their cause, which could be seen as a form of ideological bias. He also quotes a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion without criticism or context.
“It kind of personally just took my mind away from golf a little bit and worried about something else.”
“We are all watching the climate catastrophe unfold at warp speed. Our relatively mild disruption of the Travelers Championship calls attention to nature’s much more severe and long-lasting disruptions.”
