Golf fans injured as lightning hits tree at TOUR Championship
Two lighting strikes hurt six people during a break in play at the TOUR Championship on Saturday.
Two lightning strikes, including one that hit a tree near the 16th tee has seen six golf fans injured at the TOUR Championship.
While play had been suspended for almost half an hour because of impending thunderstorms, a bolt of lightning was captured on camera hitting a large tree and sending debris flying.
Lightening strike at the FedEx cup championship in Atlanta. Hope everyone is ok. #FedExCup pic.twitter.com/gbSFvVJwHO
— Blake Manuel (@Bcicles) August 24, 2019
A storm caused play to be halted at 4:17 p.m. Saturday, shortly after the final group of Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka completed the fifth hole. There were two lightning strikes 28 minutes later. One strike occurred near the maintenance area, while another struck a tree near the 16th tee. Debris from that strike injured six people.
Five fans were transported from the property via ambulance to area hospitals for further medical attention. One other fan was treated and released on-site and did not require transportation to a hospital.
The PGA Tour is now copping some criticism for not bringing the tee times forward for the third round when thunderstorms had been predicted to pass through 24 hours earlier.
The third round will resume early on Sunday morning in Atlanta with the fourth round to tee off as scheduled in the afternoon.
