The final round of the AIG Women’s Open was briefly interrupted by a group of protesters on Sunday afternoon.
A group of “Just Stop Oil” protesters ran onto the 17th green at Walton Heath Golf Club near London shortly before the final group reached the course surface. When the demonstrators got there, they set off colored smoky flares, creating a raging scene at the Grand Tournament.
“I didn’t know why they were on the grass,” Lilia Fu said after her victory. “I didn’t want the lady to step in my footsteps.”
The R&A League said after the tournament that five people had been arrested.
England’s Charlie Hull, who had been playing Fo in the final group and finished second in eighth, was furious after the incident.
“I have asthma, but I didn’t have my inhaler and that thing was really thick, so it wasn’t nice. I wasn’t scared when it happened, I just thought they were stupid. Someone said they protest oil, but how did they get here today? ? I probably drove.”
The group “Just Stop Oil” has been protesting across the UK all summer in an attempt to stop the British government from expanding new oil and fossil fuel projects. At the British Open last month a protester walked into the police on the course at Royal Liverpool. The group was boycotted in court, too.
Fu ran away with the AIG Women’s Open on Sunday. She scored a 5-under 67 and won by six shots over Hull and the rest of the field. It was Vu’s second major title of the season, after winning the Chevron Championship.