Prior to 2019, the Rules of Golf were “simplified”, making them much easier to understand for the average player. Yet there’s still plenty of confusion to be found in the rulebook if you dig deep enough. Case in point: this odd rule Paul Casey nearly fell victim to at the Porsche European Open.

The Englishman faced an eight-foot putt during the second round, and after he stroked it, his ball broke slightly to the left but caught the edge of the hole and dropped. Nothing to see here, right? Well, except Casey’s ball happened to roll right over an insect, which, as he explains in the video below, is an animal.

According to Rule 11.2.b, if he knowingly hit the bug, he’d have to replay the stroke. Luckily, that strange language in the rule saved him:

https://twitter.com/EuropeanTour/status/1170079222037020672

Because Casey didn’t “knowingly” hit the animal (who would ever do this??), he avoided what would have been perhaps the weirdest rules controversy in recent memory. If you’d never heard of that rule before, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

It’s a good thing Casey didn’t purposely hit the insect, because that looked like a pretty tricky putt, one you would not want to replay after already making it.

The better news for this Englishman in Germany is that he went on to win the tournament – bug-free – by a single stroke.