Golf fans angered by Brian Harman rules decision after 'turtle showdown' at US PGA

Brian Harman has been trending on social media for a variety of reasons in the first round of the US PGA at Valhalla.

First, there was a peculiar stare off with a turtle at the par-4 6th. 

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Then followed what many golf fans deemed a very fortunate drop at the par-5 7th. 

Right, let's get to the turtle first...

After a solid greenside shot from a plugged lie on the 6th, the American was left with a 12-footer for par. 

He put his marker down and contemplated the putt in hand, but then soon backed off and looked over to his right. 

What exactly was Harman looking at? 

Possibly an unruly spectator in the crowd or maybe he was waiting for someone else in another group to hit their shot.

It can't be certain. 

But as Harman was gazing into the distance, the cameraman thought he would have a bit of fun as he panned over to an innocent turtle just going about its day. 

Golf fans were loving it on social media, with one going as far to say Harman 'knows all about playing like a turtle'. 

Harman went on to miss the par save and tapped in for bogey. 

Anyway, here's the hilarious clip: 

Right, now for the relief Harman received from a rules official at the next hole, the par-5 7th. 

Harman found the intermediate rough with his tee shot and then sent his second shot into the deep rough to the right of the green. 

As the reigning Open champion trundled over to his ball, the lie looked pretty grim to say the least. 

Harman then called over a rules official as he deemed the gallery rope / wires on the ground were going to impact his third shot.

Now we'll let you decide if the rope was really close enough to Harman's ball for him to gain free relief by checking out the photos below. 

But many fans on social media do not consider it was close enough to warrant relief in the slightest. 

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The call from the rules official marked yet another week on Tour where golf fans consider a player 'got away with one' following Xander Schauffele's very favourable break in the trees at the Wells Fargo Championship last week. 

The team at Fried Egg Golf most certainly did not like the drop Harman received, especially when he was able to transform a buried lie into an absolute pearler. 

Harman was afforded free relief from the rules official and took full advantage of the break as he went on to get up and down for birdie. 

Fried Egg Golf tweeted: 

"Pretty egregious relief awarded to Brian Harman just now on No. 7. Claiming that he felt the rope would impact his through swing, he went from a buried lie in long rough (pic 1) to a perfect lie (pic 2) and nearly holed it."

The decision to hand Harman free relief away from the rope has not sat well with a large number of golf fans.

Harman has continued to further frustrate golf fans on social media with his lethargic pace of play fuelled by multiple pre-shot waggles. 

The left-hander is playing alongside World No.1 and reiging Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and reigning US Open champion Wyndham Clark for the opening two rounds of the PGA. 

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