Paul Casey escapes penalty after his golf ball rolled over a bug

In case you missed it Paul Casey escaped a penalty after his golf ball rolled over a bug on the green during the European Tour’s Porsche European Open in Germany.

Check out the video below:

One of the weirder golfing rules… 🐛@Paul_Casey #PEO2019 pic.twitter.com/v0gmmDNJk8

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 6, 2019

“I putted the ball, when I looked up, the ball was going in the hole, just crept in, left edge,” Casey said in the video.

“Hopefully I didn’t hurt him.”

It’s one of the weirder rules of golf that’s all contained in Rule 11.1-B:

“When Ball Played from Putting Green Accidentally Hits Any Person, Animal or Movable Obstruction (Including Another Ball in Motion) on Putting Green: The stroke does not count and the original ball or another ball must be replaced on its original spot.”

So if you’re golf ball does hit any of these objects you must play your shot again – if not it’s a two-shot penalty for playing from the wrong spot.

Matthew Southgate fell heartbreakingly foul of this rule almost two years ago when his golf ball was deflected by a flying leaf.

In this case, Casey escaped a penalty because he did not knowingly hit the bug.

“If you knowingly hit an animal — a bug is considered an animal — during the course of a stroke, certainly on the putting green, you have to replay it. I didn’t knowingly hit it, so I’m all right. Almost a rules infraction and I had no clue, so you know, ants and bugs and beetles, we’ve gotta protect them.”

Casey went on to win the tournament too.