Charley Hull is still in search of her maiden Major championship but is not putting pressure on herself at this week’s AIG Women’s Open.
The English star has come close previously finishing as runner-up in 2023 at Walton Heath and in 2025 at Royal Porthcawl.
This year’s 50th edition of the tournament is being held at Royal Lytham & St Annes for the sixth time and the first since 2018.
Hull has memories of the 2006 edition of the tournament, which was played here, as she played in the Pro-Am.
“In 2006, I think I was ten years old and I played in the Pro-Am here with Morgan Pressel, so it’s pretty cool to be back here,” she said. “There are some pictures of me in the player’s lounge after the Pro-Am with Laura Davies and Lorena Ochoa, Annika [Sorenstam], and Morgan [Pressel] and Natalie [Gulbis], so it was pretty cool.”
The field of 144 players representing 30 nationalities are playing for a prize fund of $10 million USD this week.
Royal Lytham & St Annes provides a true test of Links golf with 166 pot bunkers dotted around the course and Hull is expecting a challenging week.
“Obviously if you’re in the bunker it’s a penalty area, especially with the tee shots, so you have just got to pick out your lines and trust them or play smart and just layup a bit short of them,” she explained. “It is a very good golf course and compared to last week, this is more of a traditional links, so if it does get windy and bouncy you can then run it in.
“It’s great for AIG for raising the bar. I think in the last few years the Majors have really gone up in prize money and it’s really good to see. It’s just now the Tour’s job and as players to make it really exciting for everyone to get more people come and make it a massive event for the sponsors.
“It’s nice and it’s good because I love playing for money, I’m not going to lie. That’s why I think I play so well in the majors. Even if I’m quite a lot behind, I say I’m going to make loads of birdies today, extra dollars, for me and Adam [caddie] to get.”
With the AIG Women’s Open being held in England for the first time in three years, all eyes are on Hull as the home favourite.
The five-time LET winner is taking inspiration from Tommy Fleetwood at Royal Birkdale and is trying to be as relaxed as possible.
She added: “I think Tommy played very well. He’s a very steady player. I felt like I was in the home crowd a couple years ago when we were down at Walton Heath. You just got to deal with it and think to yourself it’s just another golf event rather than adding too much pressure. I will just go out there and feel relaxed as you can be.”
Hull will tee it up in the first round at 1.26 pm (local time) alongside Australia’s Hannah Green and Canada’s Brooke Henderson.
Follow all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #AIGWO.
