Staff WriterIf the 2025 AIG Women’s Open handed out trophies for heart, honesty and hitting it pure under pressure, Charley Hull would need a new shelf.
The Englishwoman came up just two shots shy of Miyu Yamashita at Royal Porthcawl, finishing tied for second in front of a thunderous home crowd—and doing so with all the blunt-force candour and flair we’ve come to expect from her.
“Coming into this week I didn’t think I was going to make the cut,” Hull admitted in the mixed zone, with her trademark shrug. “That’s the truthful of it. I wasn’t hitting it very well. I couldn’t prepare properly because I was poorly. I collapsed three times at Evian, and I still wasn’t feeling well until Sunday last week.”
So much for needing prep. Hull very nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages, storming back from 11 shots behind heading into the weekend to get within one—twice—on Sunday. And she did it the hard way, carving through a coastal links that, in her own words, doesn’t really suit her eye.
“I don’t really like links courses. I find them so hard to visualise,” she said. “But I was swinging it easy today. I hit it so pure.”
That purity nearly paid off. On 16, a wedge that deserved applause got swallowed by the wind, refusing to budge. On 17, a great shot into a green that might as well be made of trampoline rubber left her a slippery putt she narrowly missed. Even on 18, staring down a tough chip from over the bunker, she handled it with guts, not guile.
“It’s not like I whiffed a drive or messed anything up,” she said. “I played solid. I felt in control.”
No Scoreboard, No Problem
In typical Hull fashion, she wasn’t watching a single leaderboard all day.
“I didn’t even know where I was standing coming up the last,” she said. “Was I even in the lead at any point?”
She wasn’t—but she got bloody close. The birdie on 14 lit up Royal Porthcawl like a rugby try under Friday-night lights. “I had goosebumps,” she smiled. “That was a buzz.”
Hull signed for a final-round 69 to finish three-under on the day, nine-under overall—just behind Yamashita, who barely blinked all afternoon.
“I enjoyed it out there,” Hull said. “I love that adrenaline hit. It’s like a massive rush.”
Resilience Over Results
Despite her fourth career runner-up finish at a major—and second at the AIG Women’s Open—Hull leaves Porthcawl with no regrets and plenty to build on.
“I know in my head I didn’t mess up,” she said. “I hit the shots I wanted. And that’s golf. Sometimes the wind doesn’t move it. Sometimes it bounces left instead of right.”
Looking ahead, Hull’s already got her eye on Aramco London next week. Another stage. Another home crowd. And after this week’s display, plenty more belief.
“Today, it was one shot at a time,” she said. “Just get through this shot, move on. That’s the mindset I had when I won in 2016. And I want to take that forward again.”
Hull in the Hunt, Always
It may not have been the fairytale finish for the local favourite at the 2025 AIG Women’s Open, but Hull delivered something rarer: authenticity, fight, and a level of grace under fire that doesn’t show up on the leaderboard.
“I feel like I’m kind of insane sometimes,” she laughed. “I can hit wayward shots, but I get up and down. It’s great.”
Call her what you want—unfiltered, fiery, ferociously fun to watch—but whatever you do, don’t count her out.
