Major Champion Facing Strange “Bird” Rules Situation of Advanced PGA

Padraig Harrington won the second-place senior title at the 2025 Senior PGA Championship on Sunday, the second-to-last title, until the final game collapsed. But before his late coma begins, the three-time Major Champion faces one of the stranger rules scenarios you will see in a professional game involving bird droppings. This is something you can easily encounter in your own turn.

This is what you need to know.

Harrington surrenders mainly lead

Harrington caught fire and began Sunday’s Senior PGA Championship in the Maryland Congress.

The 53-year-old opened with a back-to-back birdie and then added two more in the first nine games to reach seven in the match.

By the time he reached the 15th hole, his two-shot leads to his second senior Grand Slam victory. But then, Harrington made a devastating double bogey at the age of 15 and then lost in a short shot at the age of 18, which would give him a spot in the playoffs.

But it was in the hole before Harrington collapse that the regular moment of eyebrows occurred.

Harrington is dripped by birds on the green

Harrington led the lead when Congressman arrived on Sunday with a 15-hole 4 shot. He safely put the green in two and built a 30-foot birdie attempt.

“I took the second photo, and it was a really good second shot, and to get there was 6, what was that, 30 feet? To get it on the plateau, it was probably the toughest pin on the golf course.”

A question. A bird left a “big” surprise for Harrington on the surface of the putter. Directly in his posture between the ball and the hole, there were “mass” of bird drops scattered.

Harrington is a crafty tour veteran who also knows the rules of golf and anyone else. But this situation even made him guess himself for a second time.

Rule 15 controls obstacles to clearing on a golf course. Rule 15.1a provides: “You may remove loose barriers without penalty anywhere or anywhere under the course and may in any way (e.g., use your hands, feet, clubs or other equipment).

At first glance, the disturbing bird droppings in the Harrington case easily fall into the description of loose barriers. But, as Harrington later explained, the feces were not completely loose, and, considering the high stakes of the situation, he called on rule officials to seek help.

“That was a big clump…I’m not sure how much I could scrape,” Harrington explained after Sunday. “I know you can brush it off, but I actually have to scrape it off the green.”

Luckily for Paddy, rule officials confirmed that he could remove the droplets from the putter line before hitting the ball.

better? Harrington rolled in a 30-foot birdie bomb, lifting his lead to two shots and playing in three holes.

After all the rules discussions, Harrington admitted that he was “happy to score for the putter.”

Unfortunately, this is not a signal of how the rest of his rounds work. Angel Cabrera played behind him, needed bogey at the age of 18, and won his second senior Grand Slam title in one shot.

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