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Flashback: Missile alert error sends Sony Open into panic

The third round of the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii got off to one of the more memorable starts in PGA Tour history - with a inbound missile scare.

Along with the rest of the residents and tourists on the island, Sony Open participants awoke to an emergency alert warning of an inbound ballistic missile.

At 8:07 a.m. local time, a text message reading, “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill,” was sent to phones across the state.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted a that they had made a mistake 13 minutes later, but a cell phone correction was not issued until 8:45 a.m.

The mobile alert, “NO missile threat to Hawaii,” was finally sent out 38 minutes after the original cell phone warning.

Obviously, that left plenty of time for everyone in the golf community - whether they were in Hawaii or not - to freak out.

And freak out they did:

Luckily, the missile scare did turn out to be a simple mistake made by a Hawaii emergency employee, but it is a morning that those involved will never forget.