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Akshay Bhatia Says He Was ‘Scared For His Life’ When Protestors Caused Mayhem At Travelers

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Akshay Bahtia at the Travelers Championship.

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Akshay Bhatia experienced an unexpected protest at the Travelers Championship on Sunday when activists stormed onto the 18th green while he attempted to wrap up his final round of play.

The moment was briefly terrifying for the PGA Tour golfer, who admitted to being scared for his life as those disruptors ran onto the course.

Bhatia was one of the weekend’s top performers, finishing in a tie for fifth place with a score of -18. His 72nd hole of the tournament proved to be the most bizarre.

As golfers made their way to the green in a tightly contested battle atop the leaderboard, a group of activists (supposedly from Just Stop Oil) rushed into the field of play.

Pure mayhem ensued as no one initially knew the intentions of those protestors.

Most came out with spray paint as they made their marks on the 18th green, but the large majority was quickly corralled and escorted off the premises by law enforcement. Some received harsher punishment than others.

Bhatia made par on that last hole to effectively end his day. After the round, he spoke with reporters about that wild finish.

Akshay Bhatia was “scared for his life.”

“I was scared for my life. I didn’t really know what was happening at all,” he recalled. “All of a sudden, four or five people come running out onto the green. It was kind of weird, but thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe…

“I was in shock. My heartrate was high… I just freaked out. I tried to go where everyone was.”

The chaotic scene luckily ended without injury or much drama. After being detained, protestors were taken off the course so that the final hole could be played out.

Runner-up Tom Kim was somehow able to regather his composure after the fact to sink a pressure-packed birdie putt that forced a playoff, though Scottie Scheffler would later beat him to land his sixth win of the PGA Tour season.

As Bhatia noted, it was just a weird, yet exciting day at TPC River Highlands.