Charley Hull is leading the Kroger Queen City Championship heading to Sunday\u2019s final round. She\u2019s chasing her third career LPGA Tour win \u2014 and her first since 2022. It would be fitting if she finished it off; she\u2019s played her way to World No. 8 and she\u2019s stacked up recent trips to contention, including back-to-back runner-ups in her last two starts. It also won\u2019t be easy, with World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul one shot behind and World No. 2 Nelly Korda two shots part of a crowded chase pack.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not just rounds of 68-65-67 that have been turning heads in Cincinnati. It\u2019s also Hull\u2019s entire approach \u2014\u00a0to golf, to life, to pressure, to competition \u2014\u00a0that has led to laughs in the press room, to adulation from outside the ropes and to a general sense that maybe Hull has everything figured out. <\/p>\n
Hull\u2019s always a show-stopper at the mic. One bonus of her leading: more trips to the press room. Let\u2019s buzz through a few of her more noteworthy moments this week.<\/p>\n
1. \u201c[My game] feels pretty good. Obviously like I tore a ligament completely in half in my ankle, so that was at a golf tournament after the British Open. I had to pull put. They said it would probably be about nine weeks\u2019 recovery time \u2014\u00a0but I cut it down to three. I am a little bit sore this week after playing last week.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a rollercoaster in itself. Hull did what?! Cutting a nine-week recovery down to three weeks speaks to Hull\u2019s determination, her love for competition and her general impatience.<\/p>\n
2. \u201cStill up in the air whether I\u2019m going to play Hawai\u2019i or not. I\u2019ve got something wrong with my back as well at the minute where I tore my muscle about two months ago and I\u2019ve got some cysts growing on my spine. I feel like a 12-hour flight to LA and then a five-hour flight there could do me more harm than good, get there and not play. We\u2019ll try to assess it over the next few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, just a back injury, a torn ankle ligament and some cysts growing on her spine? Seems like a flight to Hawaii from England should be no big deal, eh?<\/p>\n
3. \u201cNo, haven\u2019t even looked who is on the team, to be fair. I\u2019ll just rock up that week and play some golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hull had mentioned she was looking forward to the LPGA\u2019s International Crown event; a reporter had followed up to ask if she\u2019d spoken with any teammates. Safe to say Hull hasn\u2019t been keeping a close eye on qualifying spots.<\/p>\n
4. \u201cObviously fainted at Evian and hurt my back after that when I was lifting a box into my car, and then like, tore the muscle. And then obviously tearing the ligament in my ankle, so it\u2019s just gone one after another. Playing pretty decent golf, touch wood, and it\u2019s just come at like an awkward point as well and you just want to play loads of golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s life and at the end of the day I\u2019m still breathing, so I\u2019m fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hull\u2019s had a lot going on. But \u201cI\u2019m still breathing, so I\u2019m fine\u201d is a hell of a way to look at things.<\/p>\n
5. \u201c[I did rest on those] three, four weeks I took off. Get bored though. I think it\u2019s actually boring to be sat on the sofa doing sweet nothing, do you know what I mean? I always like to be doing something, and the golf course is place that I\u2019m meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the special things about Hull is that even though she describes herself as easily bored, she\u2019s obsessed with what some would consider the world\u2019s most tedious sport. That\u2019s an appealing quality when most of your fans feel the same way.<\/p>\n
6. \u201cYeah, today it hurt. It\u2019s just a lot of golf last week and then straight into this week. But pain is only a bloody weakness of the mind, so I\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hull is many things but \u201cweak\u201d is not one of them.<\/p>\n
7. \u201cWhen I was younger if I fell over my dad would always be like, \u2018You break anything? No? Well just stand back up then.\u2019 I\u2019d be like, \u2018Yeah, true.\u2019 As a kid \u2014 I\u2019ve always been like that. Just like that, yeah, tough love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hull has seemed to play better the more injured she\u2019s gotten; she appreciates taking a challenge head-on.<\/p>\n
8. \u201cYeah, I love it. I just love being on the golf course. I just enjoy playing golf well. It\u2019s not a chore to me. It\u2019s not work. It\u2019s just out there loving life, and I can\u2019t wait to make some birdies over the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hull delivered this one after a 68-65 start. It\u2019s always interesting trying to trace motivations for top players \u2014\u00a0and it\u2019s cool to hear that Hull is so good because of her love for the game.<\/p>\n
9. \u201cI just feel pretty chilled out there to be fair. Just kind of not even thinking about tomorrow. Looking forward to my fish tacos later tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hull owns a one-stroke lead heading to Sunday. What kind of pressure does she feel? Not much, thus far, she says. At least, that\u2019s what she\u2019d like the world to think. But seriously, what\u2019s her mindset staring down pins on the weekend?<\/p>\n
10. \u201cI don\u2019t even think, like, that in-depth. I just hit a ball and find it and hit it again, you know what I mean? I think that\u2019s the trouble with many golfers, overthinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a game. Hit a white ball at the pin. Make a birdie or make a par, make a bogey, whatever, just roll on to the next hole.\u201d<\/p>\n
So says Philosopher Hull. We\u2019ll see if she emerges the winner on Sunday. And we\u2019ll see what she says post-round.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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