Charley Hull is leading the Kroger Queen City Championship heading to Sunday’s final round. She’s chasing her third career LPGA Tour win — and her first since 2022. It would be fitting if she finished it off; she’s played her way to World No. 8 and she’s stacked up recent trips to contention, including back-to-back runner-ups in her last two starts. It also won’t be easy, with World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul one shot behind and World No. 2 Nelly Korda two shots part of a crowded chase pack.
But it’s not just rounds of 68-65-67 that have been turning heads in Cincinnati. It’s also Hull’s entire approach — to golf, to life, to pressure, to competition — that has led to laughs in the press room, to adulation from outside the ropes and to a general sense that maybe Hull has everything figured out.
Hull’s always a show-stopper at the mic. One bonus of her leading: more trips to the press room. Let’s buzz through a few of her more noteworthy moments this week.
1. “[My game] feels pretty good. Obviously like I tore a ligament completely in half in my ankle, so that was at a golf tournament after the British Open. I had to pull put. They said it would probably be about nine weeks’ recovery time — but I cut it down to three. I am a little bit sore this week after playing last week.”
This is a rollercoaster in itself. Hull did what?! Cutting a nine-week recovery down to three weeks speaks to Hull’s determination, her love for competition and her general impatience.
2. “Still up in the air whether I’m going to play Hawai’i or not. I’ve got something wrong with my back as well at the minute where I tore my muscle about two months ago and I’ve got some cysts growing on my spine. I feel like a 12-hour flight to LA and then a five-hour flight there could do me more harm than good, get there and not play. We’ll try to assess it over the next few weeks.”
Oh, just a back injury, a torn ankle ligament and some cysts growing on her spine? Seems like a flight to Hawaii from England should be no big deal, eh?
3. “No, haven’t even looked who is on the team, to be fair. I’ll just rock up that week and play some golf.”
Hull had mentioned she was looking forward to the LPGA’s International Crown event; a reporter had followed up to ask if she’d spoken with any teammates. Safe to say Hull hasn’t been keeping a close eye on qualifying spots.
4. “Obviously fainted at Evian and hurt my back after that when I was lifting a box into my car, and then like, tore the muscle. And then obviously tearing the ligament in my ankle, so it’s just gone one after another. Playing pretty decent golf, touch wood, and it’s just come at like an awkward point as well and you just want to play loads of golf.
“But it’s life and at the end of the day I’m still breathing, so I’m fine.”
Hull’s had a lot going on. But “I’m still breathing, so I’m fine” is a hell of a way to look at things.
5. “[I did rest on those] three, four weeks I took off. Get bored though. I think it’s actually boring to be sat on the sofa doing sweet nothing, do you know what I mean? I always like to be doing something, and the golf course is place that I’m meant to be.”
One of the special things about Hull is that even though she describes herself as easily bored, she’s obsessed with what some would consider the world’s most tedious sport. That’s an appealing quality when most of your fans feel the same way.
6. “Yeah, today it hurt. It’s just a lot of golf last week and then straight into this week. But pain is only a bloody weakness of the mind, so I’ll be all right.”
Hull is many things but “weak” is not one of them.
7. “When I was younger if I fell over my dad would always be like, ‘You break anything? No? Well just stand back up then.’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah, true.’ As a kid — I’ve always been like that. Just like that, yeah, tough love.”
Hull has seemed to play better the more injured she’s gotten; she appreciates taking a challenge head-on.
8. “Yeah, I love it. I just love being on the golf course. I just enjoy playing golf well. It’s not a chore to me. It’s not work. It’s just out there loving life, and I can’t wait to make some birdies over the weekend.”
Hull delivered this one after a 68-65 start. It’s always interesting trying to trace motivations for top players — and it’s cool to hear that Hull is so good because of her love for the game.
9. “I just feel pretty chilled out there to be fair. Just kind of not even thinking about tomorrow. Looking forward to my fish tacos later tonight.”
Hull owns a one-stroke lead heading to Sunday. What kind of pressure does she feel? Not much, thus far, she says. At least, that’s what she’d like the world to think. But seriously, what’s her mindset staring down pins on the weekend?
10. “I don’t even think, like, that in-depth. I just hit a ball and find it and hit it again, you know what I mean? I think that’s the trouble with many golfers, overthinking.
“It’s just a game. Hit a white ball at the pin. Make a birdie or make a par, make a bogey, whatever, just roll on to the next hole.”
So says Philosopher Hull. We’ll see if she emerges the winner on Sunday. And we’ll see what she says post-round.
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