(CNN) — At least two people were hurt following lightning struck a tree at the PGA Tour Championship golf tournament in Atlanta, authorities said on Saturday.
Five men and a girl who sought shelter under a tree were injured when lightning struck the tree, then Atlanta Police Department spokesman James White stated.
They have been taken to local hospitalsawake, conscious, and breathing, to get further medical care, White said.
One of those wounded published Saturday evening and was treated in the Northside Hospital, said the hospitals spokeswoman, Katherine Watson.
PGA Tour explained that debris had struck those injured and some of them were lovers.
The third round of the PGA Tour Championship was at the East Lake Golf Club on Saturday when organizers suspended play because of inclement weather, the PGA said.
The protection of the fans, gamers and spouses is of the utmost importance, the announcement said.
A tree and a maintenance area struck close to the range and the 16th tee Almost 30 minutes after actions were suspended by organizers, Mark Russell, PGAs vice-president of principles, administration and competition, told reporters.
The lightning knocked the tree and debris apart he further added.
Russell said organizers urged everyone to leave the track and take shelter. He also stated the PGA had placed a message to the scoreboards warning spectators that weather approached.
Youve got a lot of folks, and you have to do that fast and sometimes people dont take shelter, he said.
Russell said he could not really answer the issue but said they had done everything they could when asked whether there was a half dozen sufficient time to safely evacuate the golf program.
I wish I can say yes or no. I meanwe wanted to find everybody, the audiences the volunteers off here as soon as we could, and the minute we saw we had hazard , we suspended play. We had on the scoreboards that there was coming weather, and we got off the players, we obtained the volunteers off, he explained.
All play has been suspended for the afternoon in the season-ending tournament where Justin Thomas leads Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka. The tournament is expected to resume.
The PGA Tour Championship has been held at the East Lake Golf Club. The winner will take home $15 million with prize money readily available for those participants.
