England has been longing for a female golf hero.
The Brits have wanted a star to call their own, one they can embrace like a member of the Royal Family.
They now have one.
She’s Charley Hull, bright, blonde and spunky as it gets.
She doesn’t waste time on the golf course, she gets up there and hits it and doesn’t hold back.
It was all on display for the world to see in Naples last week and she had a perfect weekend at Tiburon Golf Club. Back-to-back rounds of 66 on Saturday and Sunday, without a bogey over the final 36 can do wonders for your career. Shooting 19-under par, a tournament record, will get everyone’s attention in a hurry.
That performance was good enough to get Hull her first LPGA win and what a win it was at the CME Group Tour Championship.
“It’s a pretty good feeling. It just hasn’t sunk in yet,” Hull told the world after her win in her thick, fast-paced accent. “I just felt pretty good — relaxed. The key for me was coming in relaxed,” she said.
She didn’t care that she was being pushed by major champion and playing partner So Yeon Ryu. It was Ryu’s 16th hole birdie that tied Hull on Sunday and set up the dramatic birdie-bogey swing at the 17th that went Hull’s way and sealed the victory.
“I enjoy it when players are making birdies out there. It makes it more interesting. It’s fun and feels good to join the winners out here,” Hull said.
Pressure? She WANTS her opponents to make birdies — go figure.
Hull still lives with her parents in a small village outside Kettering, about 80 miles north of London. There’s a shiny new BMW in her driveway and a reserved parking space for her at the Woburn Golf Club where she plays. There’s only one catch — Charley doesn’t have a driver’s license. “I’m rubbish at tests,” she says.
Her father Dave doesn’t mind driving his daughter but he’s not a hovering parent. “I’m a great believer that it’s her life, not mine,” he says.
Hull enjoys her time back home in England. She has her long-time friends and typically discourages them from watching her play.
She’ll often show up at Woburn and carry her own bag for a quick round. Quick is the key word. Charley Hull wastes no time on the course. Tee it up, hit it, hit it long, find it, hit it again, make lots of birdies.
She’s been playing since the age of four, she wanted golf clubs when she saw that the little boy next door had them. Her father started playing at age 44 when Charley was four. So it didn’t run in the family.
The world got its first real look at Hull at the 2014 Solheim Cup and everyone liked what they saw.
This first victory was just a matter of time.
Hull will climb higher in the world rankings. She’s already inside the top 20 and is the only English woman inside the top 50.
This season finale for the LPGA Tour got her a lot of attention.
After all consider that she beat world’s No. 1 Lydia Ko, No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn, No. 3 In Gee Chun and No. 4 Shanshan Feng. No. 5 Lexi Thompson got beat by 17 shots.
It was, after all, a tournament record-setting performance by Hull.
Exactly what England ordered.
