'Back You Go Gareth Bale' - Social Media Reacts To Excited Pup At Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

A video posted to social media has been drawing plenty of attention, for humorous reasons, with Gareth Bale, who is playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, seeing his golf ball being returned by a dog.

Posted by user @DarrenMcRae3 to X/Twitter, the video shows Bale hitting an approach shot at St Andrews with the ball finishing just past the flag. However, just a few seconds later, a dog is seen running on the green, picking the ball up and returning it back to the football star.

Having been shared thousands of times, and even posted to the DP World Tour's social profiles, there has been reaction from users and, below, we have taken a look through the best that social media has come up with.

Before we start, and for those wondering, the ruling is, thankfully, quite simple, as many asked what happens in this situation. Via the USGA: "If your ball is moved by an outside influence, such as an animal or a spectator, there is no penalty to anyone and the ball must be replaced."

Funnily enough, back in 2012 at the very same event, a playful dog fetched Paul Casey's golf ball at Kingsbarns, with the Englishman replacing his ball where it had finished. Another example was at the 1998 Players Championship, where a bird stole Brad Fabel's golf ball on the iconic par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass.

Anyhow, let's get on with the reactions!