6 hurt in lightning strike at PGA Tour Championship

News Express |25th Aug 2019 | 1,106
6 hurt in lightning strike at PGA Tour Championship

Six people were injured Saturday when lightning struck a 60-foot pine at the Tour Championship where they were taking cover from rain and showered them with debris, Atlanta police said.

The third round of the season-ending PGA Tour event at East Lake Golf Club had been suspended for about 30 minutes because of storms in the area, and fans were instructed to seek shelter. The strike hit the top of the tree just off the 16th tee and shattered the bark all the way to the bottom.

Ambulances streamed into the private club about 6 miles east of downtown Atlanta. The players already had been taken into the clubhouse before the lightning hit.

Brad Uhl of Atlanta was among those crammed under a hospital tent to the right of the 16th hole that was open to the public.

“There was just a big explosion and then an aftershock so strong you could feel the wind from it,” Uhl said after the last of the ambulances pulled out of the golf course. “It was just a flash out of the corner of the eye.”

Atlanta police spokesman James H. White III said five men and one female juvenile were injured in the lightning strike. He said they were taken to hospitals for further treatment, all of them alert, conscious and breathing.

The PGA Tour canceled the rest of golf Saturday, with the round to resume at 8 a.m. Sunday, followed by the final round.

Last week at the BMW Championship in the Chicago suburbs, Phil Mickelson was delayed getting to the golf course when lightning struck the top of his hotel, causing a precautionary evacuation. (VOA/AP)

•Photo shows a spectator being taken to an ambulance after a lightning strike at East Lake Golf Club during a weather delay in the third round of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Aug. 24, 2019, in Atlanta.

Comments

Post Comment

Sunday, November 9, 2025 11:22 PM
ADVERTISEMENT

Follow us on

GOCOP Accredited Member

GOCOP Accredited member
logo

NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s leading online newspaper. Published by Africa’s international award-winning journalist, Mr. Isaac Umunna, NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s first truly professional online daily newspaper. It is published from Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and media hub, and has a provision for occasional special print editions. Thanks to our vast network of sources and dedicated team of professional journalists and contributors spread across Nigeria and overseas, NEWS EXPRESS has become synonymous with newsbreaks and exclusive stories from around the world.

Contact

Adetoun Close, Off College Road, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos State.
+234(0)8098020976, 07013416146, 08066020976
info@newsexpressngr.com

Find us on

Facebook
Twitter

Copyright NewsExpress Nigeria 2025