Gareth Bale sees DOG steal his ball at Alfred Dunhill Links Championship as pooch denies putting chance

Gareth Bale just can't escape the ruff at the Alfred Dunhill Links Pro Am after a DOG ran on and swiped the Welshman's ball.

Former Real Madrid and Tottenham star Bale is one of a number of big names who have taken to the tees at St Andrews. He's joined on the Old Course by the likes of Andy Murray, Ruud Gullit, Kevin Pietersen, Bill Murray and TV loudmouth Piers Morgan. But it was a local furry friend that upstaged them all with a starring role.

Bale was chipping onto the green from some sloped rough and played a decent shot, generating enough back spin to land his ball around six feet from the pin. But just as he was making his way ro line up his putt, an excited dog went chasing after his ball, grabbed it and "helpfully" bounded back to return it to where it had just come from, sparking plenty of laughter from punters behind the ropes.

Bale, playing with Daniel Brown, currently sits tied 18th on 19 under. Belgian Nicholas Colsaerts leads the way on the pro leader borad on 14 under. Scotland's David Law is third, with Rory McIlroy all the way down in 49th.

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