Charley Hull is among the favourites for AIG Women's Open victory at St Andrews, live on Sky Sports Golf from midday on Thursday; Hull was runner-up to Lilia Vu in 2023, one of eight runner-up finishes worldwide since her last LPGA Tour title
Wednesday 21 August 2024 11:04, UK
If Charley Hull is the player lifting the AIG Women's Open trophy on Sunday evening, she would be a hugely popular winner and silence any criticism about her long wait for major success.
Hull is inside the world's top 10, about to make a seventh consecutive Solheim Cup appearance next month for Team Europe and has contended on both sides of the Atlantic this season, although she remains without a worldwide success since October 2022.
That one-shot success at The Ascendant LPGA was only the second of her LPGA Tour career, adding to her three career titles on the Ladies European Tour, with Hull finishing runner-up eight times worldwide in the 22 months since that last win.
Hull lost out to Lilia Vu at the AIG Women's Open last summer, one of two second-placed finishes in majors last year, but now targets what she says would be a "very special" victory at the Home of Golf.
The 28-year-old's failure to win more frequently has seen her come under scrutiny in recent seasons, although former Solheim Cup player Trish Johnson believes it only highlights Hull's ability and potential to have enjoyed more success in her career.
"Has she underachieved? One hundred per cent, but you have to say that," Johnson told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. You can't talk about someone being a superstar if they've only won a handful of events - that just doesn't make any sense to me.
"Has she won an absolute shedload of money and is she always involved? Absolutely. Is she good for the game? Totally.
"Sometimes people get really annoyed and say I'm really harsh on Charley, but if she was sat here now and I said 'you've only won seven tournaments [sic: five], is that what you envisaged?', she is going to say no. If she doesn't, then she doesn't think highly of herself!
"It's basically me saying 'you should have won 20-odd tournaments already, because I think you are that good'. It's not an insult, it's actually a compliment. It's a slightly backhanded compliment, but it is because she's that good.
"Laura [Dame Laura Davies] won over 80 tournaments - that's a superstar. Yes, it's a different era, but that's not the point. You've got to win that many tournaments to be in that bracket and she just hasn't done it yet.
"Her calibre of golf is sensational and it's a joy to watch, of course. Does she care what we think? No, I don't think so, not in the slightest, and maybe that's a good thing. Let her just enjoy what she's doing."
Hull suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the summer and missed the cut at the Evian Championship, finishing no higher than 16th in the first four majors of the year.
The 28-year-old recovered from a nightmare opening-round 81 at the Olympics to post under-par rounds on each of the final three days in Paris, then contended at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open last week to finish in fifth place.
Speaking about Hull's major expectations, former Ladies European Tour player Sophie Walker added: "After the interview she gave last year, where she said 'I'm ready to practise until my hands bleed' and 'I want this so badly', I was thinking she's not going to let one slip this year. She hasn't really got in and amongst it to let one slip yet.
"She played excellent last week at the Dundonald Links for somebody that openly says she's not a huge fan of links golf. I just love Charley - I can't get enough of her. If someone says to me 'who are you going to and watch today', I'd tell them to all go out and watch Charley Hull.
"Is it time [for a major victory]? Yeah it is. Last year at Walton Heath, I felt if she'd have won that then women's golf would have exploded in Britain, but she came up just shy to an excellent Lilia Vu. She's the fans' favourite for this. I don't know what more I can say other than she's box office."
There's an extended chat ahead of the final major of year, with the guests joining regular host Josh Antmann to reflect on Nelly Korda's chances of returning the winner's circle, Vu's hopes of a successful title defence and the expected end of Lexi Thompson's AIG Women's Open career.
This week is also the final event in the race to qualify for next month's Solheim Cup, live on Sky Sports, with both Johnson and Walker debating which players could get a captain's pick from Suzann Pettersen to feature for Team Europe.
They look at the challenges the Old Course will offer the players this week and pick out a few potential players who could impress, plus look at the FedExCup Playoffs and the battle to qualify for the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship.
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Who will win the AIG Women's Open? Watch all four rounds live this week on Sky Sports! Live coverage of the opening round begins Thursday at midday on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the women's majors and more sport with NOW.
