Seeing as she was just a shot or two clear of the projected cut line at the time, Chloe Williams might have been expected to be all business late in her second round at the PIF London Championship.
Instead, she was chatting with her partner over the ropes, asking to be kept updated on the football scores.
Being from Wrexham, it was rather a special day, after all. Williams’ back nine coincided with the first match of the season since their promotion to the Championship.
As the 30-year-old’s round was reaching crunch point, so was the match. The club who have shot to world fame thanks to their takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and the subsequent docuseries Welcome to Wrexham, were holding a 1-0 lead away at Southampton.
Scalping a side who were playing Premier League football last season perfectly fitted the Hollywood script. Then it suddenly turned into a horror show, as Southampton grabbed two goals in injury time to win it.
But at least Williams made the cut in the golf. Some you win, some you lose.
“I am Wrexham born and bred, but have always followed the Premier League,” Williams said, straight after signing for an even-par 73 in Round 2 at Centurion Club.
“My dad is a Liverpool fan and Wrexham fan, and I have been watching Wrexham since I was eight years old. I am obviously super proud of the fact they are doing amazingly.
“Not a great start today. My partner was walking the course and I was asking what the score was. We were flying, then there were an extra seven minutes, and they scored two in seven.
“That wasn’t ideal, but it is going to be like that in this league.”
Williams is planning to go to the Racecourse Ground for Wrexham’s next match, against Hull City in the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening.
She has a red club-head cover for her driver bearing the name of the club’s home ground. Which must make things a little challenging for her caddie this week.
With her regular bag man, her father Paul, away while coaching a Wales junior team this week, she enlisted the services of Mike Dean, the former Premier League referee.
Dean had to be impartial during his top-tier refereeing career. But he is also a noted supporter of Tranmere Rovers, a lower division side who might have looked on enviously at the change of fortunes Wrexham have had in recent times.
“Little old Wrexham had never been heard of before,” Williams said.
“It is just a small town in Wales, albeit with a big population, and now everybody seems to know about it. International people, European people, they have all heard of this team.
“It has put us on the map and I am super proud of that. To say that I am from there is great. There are lots of players on tour who enjoy their football, and I have Mike Dean, Premier League ref on my bag this week.
“He is a Tranmere fan, which is awful. We have great banter, and they won today, so he is happy with that. I am proud to be from Wrexham and Welsh, and I am looking forward to seeing them hopefully do all right this year.”
Despite the differing allegiances, Williams says her temporary arrangement with Dean is a very enjoyable one.
“He’s a great guy and I’d have him again to step in, definitely,” Williams said.
“He is super relaxed. We are both quite similar in terms of having a dry sense of humour. We have a laugh, which I like because it keeps it relaxed, and he is positive at the same time.”
The first two days of the PIF London Championship, which is organised by Golf Saudi, had a team tournament running simultaneously with the conventional singles.
Each four-ball were a team, with their combined score counting towards the competition. Although Williams’ quartet finished among the also-rans, she appeared to thrive in the situation.
Along with Diksha Dagar’s caddie, her father Narinder, Williams was the most voluble cheerleader in the group over the two days.
“I love being part of a team,” she said. “I play football still at home and am very much a team player. We don’t get this opportunity very often, so having the team aspect within an event is fun.
“You can really spur each other on, especially if a player might have had a bit of a bad hole. You can just encourage each other, and you would never usually do that.
“It is nice to have that format and enjoy playing with fellow competitors, and not always be serious individuals. The football side of me comes out.”
