LPGA star Charley Hull is coming off a season that saw her rise to No. 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. But it wasn’t just her on-course play that turned Hull into a cult hero last year. It was also a habit of hers, and one she has a huge bet riding on this year: cigarettes.
Charley Hull and cigarettes
It was at last year’s U.S. Women’s Open when Hull’s smoking habit caught the attention of the golf world.
While practicing on the range before a round, Hull lit up a cigarette, then proceeded to start signing autographs for fans screaming her name. A GOLF.com video of the moment quickly went viral.
The internet had a lot of fun with it, and Hull admitted she was tickled by the response in a press conference that week.
“It’s actually quite funny. All over a cigarette, I suppose,” Hull said.
She then added to the interest with her bizarre explanation for why she was smoking cigarettes.
How a cigarette turned Charley Hull into a cult hero at U.S. Women’s Open
“I was a bit stressed last year and I just kind of vaped,” she said at the U.S Women’s Open. “And I wanted to stop vaping, and even though smoking is not better than vaping, it’s just you can vape indoors all the time. I thought if I smoke, I’m going to go outside and smoke a cigarette.”
Her habit turned heads once again when she represented England at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. In a press conference there, she said she wouldn’t smoke on the course in Paris because it was not allowed.
“Yeah, I do smoke on the course. It’s a habit, but I won’t do this week,” Hull said. “Yeah, just something I do.”
Hull’s smoking bet
That brings us to this week. On Monday, Hull posted a series of photos on Instagram of herself practicing on a golf course. But the final frame was a video of her with English pro Ryan Evans.
In the video, Hull declares that she is going to kick her smoking habit once and for all. And to make sure she sticks to it, she announced an enormous bet worth $10,000.
“Right. Today, I’ve made the decision I’m going to stop smoking. I’m going to give them to Ryan now,” Hull said while handing a pack of cigarettes over to Evans. “And I’m going to do a 10-grand bet with you — I get no money from it — if I pick up a cigarette in the next two months, I’ll give you 10 grand, and I’m shaking on that, deal. I promise you I won’t, and you can chuck those in the bin for me.”
That’s right, if Hull smokes one cigarette in the next two years, she’ll have to pay Evans a cool $10,000 (more likely 10k British pounds given both pros’ nationality, which is equal to over $13,000 U.S. dollars). If she succeeds, she’ll get nothing (other than improved health).
Here’s hoping that if Hull does quit, it doesn’t affect her performance negatively. So far in 2025, she is off to a hot start on the LPGA. In two events, she’s finished T19 and T4.
