Englishwoman Charley Hull has had a whirlwind of a month.
She sustained a shoulder injury after falling out of the shower, forcing her to withdraw from the Aramaco Team Series event in London in early July. Hull then missed the cut at the Amundi Evian Championship, an event she said she should not have played in. Then, Hull, still working back from her incident, opened with a 9-over 81 at the Olympics, a dreadful start that had her in third-to-last after day one in Paris. But she put those struggles behind her, carding three straight under-par rounds to finish the Olympic competition at 1-over overall.
Now, Hull is contending at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, demonstrating that she has re-discovered her form and is ready to compete once again. She shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to vault up to 6-under for the championship, two strokes back of 36-hole leader Minjee Lee.
“I played pretty solid today,” Hull said.
“It was super windy out there this morning. It was pretty cold. But I felt like it was a pretty good score. Made a few birdies and an eagle on 18, as well. So yeah, I’m pretty happy with my game.”
Despite being from the British Isles, Hull prefers playing American-style golf. Yet, based on her performance thus far in Scotland, nobody would know that was the case.
“I do like links golf. I love links golf. But usually my game, I find it hard to play in, especially a tournament because I feel like my game is built for America,” Hull said.
“But the last few weeks, my coach and I have been working on doing more three-quarter swings so I can do a lowball flight for the British Open. So, I think it is actually paying off.”
The Old Course at St. Andrews will host the AIG Women’s Open next week, thus concluding the major championship season on the LPGA. As such, Hull, along with many other players, is playing in this week’s Scottish Open to grow accustomed to the links style of golf and all that it has to offer. Many PGA Tour pros do the same at the Genesis Scottish Open, too.
Nevertheless, perhaps Hull’s prep work at Dundonald Links will translate to her first major triumph next week at St. Andrews. She has come close before, as she finished runner-up to Lilia Vu a year ago at the Women’s Open at Walton Heath.
But at least she has rediscovered her form and seems to have bounced back from her injury. Had she not done so, Hull would have no chance of contending for a major win.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
