Charley Hull doesn’t take golf too seriously. That’s what allows her to play with the kind of freedom that makes the game loose and fun.
Turns out it works.
“I just think at the end of the day it’s just a sport and you’re not going to die if you hit a bad shot. Just go out there and have fun. That’s basically what I do,” Hull said on Sunday. “I get bored if I don’t go for pins, and then I get bored I don’t play as good. If I just go after pins, keep myself on my toes, make a few birdies, I find it interesting and exciting, and that’s when I usually play my best golf.”
Hull won for the second time of her LPGA career on Sunday, closing the Volunteers of America Classic with a seven-under 64 in The Colony, Texas.
She started the day tied with Xiyu Lin but took a one-stroke lead when Lin bogeyed the 11th. Hull birdied four of the next seven — including three straight on Nos. 12-14 — to head to the 18th hole leading by one. Lin, who eagled the 17th after Hull birdied, missed her birdie putt on 18 to force a playoff. Hull two-putted for par from off the green.
“I hit a nice 7-iron in,” Hull said. “I didn’t really like that shot into 18 all week, but I hit a pretty decent shot there.”
Hull won an Aramco Team Series event, which is a part of the Ladies European Tour, last year, but hadn’t won on the LPGA Tour since 2016, when she won the CME Group Tour Championship.
Hull said she plays from the back tees when she plays at home, and also from there if she’s playing with men. Pushing herself like that, she says, helps come tournament time since the courses will usually be a little shorter. The 26-year-old English pro hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation in the final round.
“My irons are pretty good, and I’m not afraid of coming in with a long iron,” she said. “I wasn’t like going at my driver this week. Just three-quarter drives down there. Like don’t need to blast it.”
Her win comes after a T5 in Arkansas the week before, one of her three other top-fives this season.
“I’ve had some good results this year,” Hull said. “Had a very similar season to my 2016 season, so I’m actually happy I’ve got a couple events left as well, because I felt like in the 2016 season if I had a few more I could have pushed on. Yeah, it’s exciting.”