The DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship plays up the fact that dogs are welcome on the property. During the week, the golf courses get visits from a variety of everyone’s four-legged friends. All dogs must remain on a leash but they can tag along any day of the week.

Some of the big names in the field this week included Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Billy Horschel.

But in the amateur portion of the event, there are few names bigger for English fans than Gareth Bale, a Welsh soccer star who has long had a passion for golf.

Dunhill Links: Leaderboard

When Bale pitched from a bank, slowly rolling the ball to about 10 feet, one of the dogs got loose and quickly took chase, eventually grabbing the ball in his mouth.

Gareth Bale’s golf ball was stolen on the green by a DOG during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 🤣🐕 pic.twitter.com/XFwYFwfHwz

— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) October 5, 2024

Bale and his partner Daniel Brown are currently on the edge of the top 10 in the team portion of the event, and Bale was able to put place the ball back at the spot on which it stopped.