2 taken to hospital after lightning strikes tree near TOUR event

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Two people were taken to the hospital Saturday after lightning struck a tree near a home along a golf course that is hosting the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship.

The home is just north of the fifth green at TPC River Highlands, which is hosting the tournament one week after the U.S. Open.

Cromwell Police started getting 911 calls around 4:30 p.m. about a lightning strike. When first responders arrived, they found a tree that had been hit and three people who were near it.

Cromwell Fire Department Chief Jason Brade said in a statement that an emergency medical crew treated two people and took them to the hospital for further evaluation. He did not elaborate on their condition. A third person refused treatment.

Weather delayed the third round of the Travelers Championship, where earlier in the day Cameron Young shot a 59 for the PGA Tour’s first sub-60 round in four years.

Lightning is an ever-present danger on golf courses. In 2019, six people were injured when a strike hit a 60-foot (18-meter) pine tree at the Tour Championship.