English star Charley Hull is playing in her seventh Solheim Cup this week and her fourth contest in the United States.
She made her Cup debut on Liselotte Neumann’s winning side at Colorado Golf Club in 2013, aged 17, was a member of Catriona Matthew’s victorious team at Inverness Club, in 2021 and will be looking for a third victory on U.S. soil.
Speaking in her press conference on the eve of the 18th Solheim Cup on Thursday, at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, in Virginia, she explained why she loves playing in the United States.
“I love the American crowds. It’s so much fun. I always love playing a Solheim Cup in America because the atmosphere is unbelievable,” she said.
“I don’t know, we play over here every week on the LPGA Tour and I just really enjoy it. The crowds are a great laugh. Even though they’re supporting America, they’re still respectful, and we just have a lot of fun out there.”
Looking back at her debut in 2013, when she and Jodi Ewart-Shadoff memorably defeated United States stars Lexi Thompson and Paula Creamer in the day two fourballs, before Hull beat Creamer in the singles, Hull recalled: “I remember really not being nervous at all that week, and it’s going to sound bad because I look back and think I’m stupid. It was my friend’s birthday party the week of the Solheim Cup, so when I got picked for the Solheim Cup, I was so gutted that I couldn’t go to my friend’s birthday party.
“My dad was like, you’ve got to go to the Solheim Cup. I was like, but I’m going to miss my friend’s birthday party. I played in it; didn’t realise how big it was, and I was like, thank goodness I’ve come here.”
Looking ahead to this year’s matches, starting tomorrow, she added: “I’m really excited. It’s a really, really nice golf course, a really good golf course. I think the team is so well bonded this year. It’s unbelievable. I’m just really excited to get cracking now.”
Hull hasn’t been carried away by her growing popularity, with 625,000 followers on Instagram.
She said: “Truthfully, I don’t have access to my Instagram. I stopped being on Instagram six months ago now. My agent posts everything for me. I don’t log onto it. I don’t do nothing on it. I literally send her the photos I want to be posted and she’ll post them for me.
“I feel like social media can be too time consuming. You can get too obsessed with it rather than just living in the real world. I think it’s unbelievable how many followers I’ve gained.
“I think it’s good because it helps promote the Tour and everything.
“I’m just myself. If I like things, I like it for myself. If other people don’t like it, well, it’s not their life. I live me. I live my life the way I want to live it, not how anyone else wants me to live it. I think just literally just live like a normal person.”
When asked what makes Hull relatable, her friend and fellow Solheim Cup player, Georgia Hall, said: “She’s different than everyone else, and that’s why people love her, and that’s why like — she’s just really fun to be around and a really genuine, kind person. Obviously, a great golfer, so that helps. I think the fact she doesn’t care what anyone thinks and goes about her life the way she wants, I think a lot of people can learn from that.”
Always a fan favourite, on both sides of the Atlantic, Hull is sure to draw plenty of European and American crowds when the Solheim Cup gets under way tomorrow.
