Charley Hull’s bid to build on her fine second-place finish at the Women's Open last weekend has suffered a blow after suffering a freak injury.
The World No 10 ranked player arrived at the Centurion Club for this week’s PIF London Championship on a high after the adrenaline kick of that tied-runner up finish at Porthcawl in Wales last weekend.
Or at least she did until tripping over a kerb in the car park of the course in Hemel Hempstead, in the Hertfordshire countryside just north of London.
Hull was full of enthusiasm for the competition, which is organised by Golf Saudi, and said she felt fine during her media commitments on the eve of the tournament.
She did, though, acknowledge participation was dependent on a precautionary MRI scan on the injury. In the early hours of Friday morning it was announced she had been forced to withdraw.
“I was buzzing yesterday coming out of physio after getting my back tape on,” Hull said.
“I booked a four or five-hour practice session with my coach last Wednesday. I was really excited all week.
“Coming out of the locker room, I had a skip in my step because I love practicing. But then I fell over a kerb in the car park and was lying on the floor shouting for my boyfriend to come and get me.”
Hull said she nearly fainted after falling, and went for the scan on Thursday afternoon to assess the damage.
She will be conspicuous by her absence as the best known player in the field.
“I’m gutted I couldn’t practice yesterday and took Monday and Tuesday off,” Hull said “I usually feel guilty if I take more than two days off practice. Up until three years ago, I never took more than one or two days off golf.
“Over Christmas I took five or six days, but that was the maximum. I just want to go out and hit some balls to see how it feels. I’m a very clumsy person.”
When it was pointed out to her that she has a penchant for such mishaps, the 29-year-old star accepted it was true.
“People say that,” she said. “[Former European Ryder Cup captain] Thomas Bjorn was watching me on the floor and said every time he sees me, I’m lying down somewhere.
“I don’t do it on purpose; I’m naturally clumsy. My sister is the clumsiest person I know, and I used to make fun of her for it. I fell over in the middle of the road about two years ago. It runs in my dad’s genes.”
Although she will not be playing, it is a marker of Hull's popularity that she will stay on for the weekend and be available for supporters to meet.
While the clumsiness gene might be one thing Hull is not especially grateful for to her dad, she says she would not be where she is today without him.
“He gets nervous watching me but he’s the most relaxed dad ever,” she said. “He was never pushy when I was younger.
“He only got angry once. I was about seven years old and had a golf lesson with my coach Kevin Theobald. I wouldn’t listen and insisted on doing things my way. The coach told me off, and I didn’t like it.
“After hitting balls, I was supposed to pick them up and put them in the practice bag, but I was upset. I got my seven iron and hit low shots at my coach to say, ‘Don’t tell me off again.’
“My dad saw this from 20 yards away and came over to tell me off. When we got home, he snapped all my golf clubs. I cried, and the next day he bought me a new set of clubs. Apart from that, he never told me off.
“As long as I give it my all and try my best, that’s all he wants. I think that’s important for kids growing up in golf; parents need to find the right balance so kids love the game.”
Organised by Golf Saudi, the PIF London Championship is taking place for the fifth season at Centurion Club, which coincidentally also hosted the first LIV Golf event back in 2022.
The tournament is part of the PIF Global Series, a newly launched initiative on the Ladies European Tour which it says is “aimed at accelerating the growth of women’s golf on a global scale”.
The tournament, which involves team golf as on LIV Golf events on the men’s tour, carries a prize fund of $2 million. It is the third event in the five-tournament series, following competitions played in Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
