Gareth Bale saw his golf ball stolen by a dog during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am tournament in Scotland.

For the second consecutive week, Jon Rahm finds himself in position to win on the DP World Tour. Falling in a playoff at the Open de Espana, the two-time major champion seeks to make immediate amends after opening his 2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with a 7-under 65 at Carnoustie.

There are 14 LIV Golfers present at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, with a number of them in contention as the tournament heads into the weekend

While South Africa’s veteran campaigner Darren Fichardt set a scintillating pace at Kingsbarns with an 11-under 61, another South African, the Dunhill Links supremo Johann Rupert, was just as enthused by the genial scene involving two of global golf’s most powerful figures.

Darren Fichardt has shot an 11-under 61 at Kingsbarns to lead the multi-course Dunhill Links Championship after a low-scoring first round notable for the presence of the two most powerful men in golf seeking to reach a deal to heal the fractured sport.

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.