Gareth Bale suffers hilarious golf blunder as dog runs onto course and steals his ball at famous Pro-Am event – with fans left in stitches

Gareth Bale had to implement a little-known golf rule during a weekend match after a dog hilariously ran onto the course and stole his ball.

The Tottenham and Real Madrid legend has been hitting the golf courses since retiring in January last year at the age of 33 and has competed in several tournaments.

His infamous ‘Wales, golf, Madrid’ banner, which previously angered Madrid supporters, now takes on a more literal meaning as Bale continues to make the most of his retirement but was left bewildered after the intervention of a furry four-legged intruder.

Bale had to overcome the imposter while competing in the Pro-Am portion of the DP World Tour event at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Friday after a shot put him within inches of the hole.

Bale chipped from the edge of the 16th green and teamed with professional golfer Dan Brown to produce a brilliant shot that would have set him up for an easy putt.

Gareth Bale was left stunned when a dog interrupted his game during a celebrity golf tournament

Bale watched as a dog stole his ball in hilarious circumstances in Scotland on Friday

After receiving applause from the spectators for his impressive effort, Bale was about to walk to his ball before a dog sprinted out of nowhere and ran onto the green.

Desperate shouts of ‘no’ could be heard from the crowd as the dog approached Bale’s ball, sniffed around for a moment and then hilariously picked it up with its mouth.

The intruder then sprinted back towards Bale, who was given a reprieve through the use of a rule designed to cover such a situation.

The dog spots Bale’s ball and picks it up after running onto the court before running back to the Welshman

According to Rule 9.6 in the USGA Handbook: ‘If it is known or virtually certain that an outside influence (including another player in stroke play or another ball) has lifted or displaced a player’s ball at rest, there will be no penalty and the ball must be replaced on its original spot (which must be estimated if not known).”

Fortunately, Bale and his partner were able to recover from the incident and finished the round 19 under par.

The majority of spectators online were left in stitches as some comically called for dogs to be allowed into more future tournaments, with one post on had. I love puppies on the courses.”

Another similar dog lover hilariously added: “At least he brought him back – a good dog.”