Golfers panic
HONOLULU — Charles Howell III was eating breakfast in his hotel when the restaurant at the Kahala started buzzing. Everyone had their phones. Everyone received the same alert: “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”
“All the alarms went off at the same time,” Howell said. “It got everyone’s attention. I didn’t know what to do. We all stared at each other. It kind of shows you the world we live in now. Your whole life can change in a second.”
The alert turned out to be a mistake. The scare lasted only about 10 minutes, but it was long enough to create an unsettling start to the third round of the Sony Open from the brief uncertainty and panic across the island.
When the Hawaii Emergency Agency tweeted there was no missile threat, J.J. Spaun replied on Twitter: “In a basement under hotel. Barely any service. Can you send confirmed message over radio or TV.”
John Peterson was playing in the final group on Saturday. He is travelling with his wife, their three-month-old son and his wife’s parents. “Under mattresses in the bathtub with my wife, baby and in-laws. Please lord let this bomb threat not be real,” Peterson tweeted.
The alert was issued shortly after 8 a.m., and Waialae Country Club was largely empty because the first tee time was not until 11:05 a.m. Candice Kraughto, who runs press operations for the tournament, ran into the media centre with news of the alert and asked everyone to leave.
A local golf radio program, set up in the clubhouse next to glass windows overlooking the ocean, kept broadcasting.
The staff at Waialae filed into the clubhouse to seek shelter, at first toward the locker room lined with players’ golf clubs, and ultimately into the kitchen. They didn’t stay long.
For most people, the reaction was the same. Was it real? And if it was, where do you seek shelter from a ballistic missile on an island? As Australian Marc Leishman said: “It’s an interesting feeling, isn’t it?”
On the course, Tom Hoge shot a 6-under 64 to take a one-shot lead. Hoge got up-and-down from 40 yards away for birdie on the par-5 18th to take his first 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.
Hoge was at 16-under 194, one shot ahead of Mayakoba winner Patton Kizzire (64) and Brian Harman (68).
Kyle Stanley shot 65 and was another shot back.