Charley Hull: “Why I don’t watch golf anymore”
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Charley Hull heads into the AIG Women’s Open as one of the names to watch – but you wouldn’t know it from talking to her.
Charley Hull is riding a run of strong major form this summer, with top-15 finishes at the US Women’s Open and KPMG Women’s PGA, and a third place in the Aramco Team Series. But after illness forced her out of the Evian Championship, and with Royal Porthcawl’s exposed links layout on her mind, Hull admits she’s not feeling like a favorite.
“To be honest, I don’t think the British Open on links suits me the most,” she concedes. “When we play in Walton Heath or Woburn, I always find those kind of courses suit my game a lot more. It’s more visually off the tee. I find links quite intimidating. That’s why I always find that I play well at the US Open, but I think I’ve got to get that out of my head.”
Hull says she’s lost 4kg in weight and 8mph in clubhead speed due to a recent virus, but insists she still has what it takes to win her first major this week.
“I feel like the last two years I’ve been on autopilot, where even when I’m hitting it bad, I’ve got enough confidence to go out and rip it,” she says. “Even leading up to this event, I had 12th at the US Open and 12th at the Women’s PGA of America, and then a third. Last week I was coming back and I finished 21st, and then I had to pull out at Evian.
“It annoys me because it’s such an important part this time of the season, and it’s something I look forward to all year. At the end of the day, just get me making a few birdies to start with and I think I’ll get my confidence back straight away. I’m feeling good now. Hopefully all the practice I’ve done the last two days is going to make a difference.”
It’s possible that Hull, the longtime starlet of British women’s golf, may benefit from 21-year-old sensation Lottie Woad taking some of the limelight.
“I don’t care about being up in the headlines,” she says. “I don’t really read the headlines. I literally go out there and play golf and play good and hopefully get my name on the trophy.
“I’d love to win a major title. I want to see my name on the trophy.”
It’s a grounded approach from one of the game’s most instinctive talents. And while the 29-year-old Englishwoman clearly loves competing, she doesn’t exactly live and breathe the sport off the course.
“I wouldn’t really watch golf now, really,” she admits. “I think golf back 20, 30 years ago, up to the 2000s, it was more of an art. The players, even then men, would have to hit draws and fades, where I think now it’s become more of a power game. The technology has advanced so much everyone can just hit it straight and far, and it’s kind of taken the art away from it.
Hull says she does watch golf, but winds back the clock to do so.
“Whenever I watch golf, I’ll watch who won the British Open in the 1970s and that. I find it way more interesting back then.”
She might not be glued to the coverage – but if Hull can bring her best to Porthcawl, there’s every chance she becomes the one to watch this week.
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Charley Hull says she doesn't watch modern golf.
