2 people taken to hospital after lightning strikes tree near PGA Tour event in Connecticut

CROMWELL, Conn. — Two people were taken to the hospital Saturday after lightning struck a tree near a home along a golf course that hosts the PGA Tour Travelers Championship.

The house is just north of the fifth green at TPC River Highlands, which hosts the tournament a week after the U.S. Open.

Cromwell police began receiving 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 standing nearby.

Cromwell Fire Department Chief Jason Brade said in a statement that an emergency medical team treated two people and took them to the hospital for further evaluation. He did not specify 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 an 60-foot-tall pine tree during the Tour Championship.