Even at the age of just 28 Charley Hull has already carved out a phenomenal career. She has been a pro since 2013, which seems a ridiculous thing to write, and she has appeared on the last seven Solheim Cup teams. There have been seven wins – four in Europe, two on the LPGA Tour and one on the Rose Ladies Series – but, given her undoubted talent, the quest to become a Major champion remains a winless one.
Of the 55 Majors that she's played in she's finished inside the top 25 in well over half of them, three of them runners-up places, but she remains in the top three best players who are yet to win a Major.
Here former LET player and now leading analyst Sophie Walker looks at how she might turn that around in 2025.
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Charley joined the LPGA Tour in 2015 so this will be her 10th season and she is fast approaching $9m in earnings. She's been phenomenally consistent in that period, there have been 38 top 10s, but she has only won twice, which doesn’t seem enough for a player of her ability.
In 2024 I would put that down to her first-round scoring average. At one point it was over par and it ended up at 71.6. Her second round is 69.4, third round 70.1 and final round 70.9. Jeeno Thitikul is 69.9 and Nelly Korda's is 70.1 for their opening rounds so she's giving up a shot and a half straightaway. So that would be something that Charley needs to tidy up for next year.
Likewise she is just outside the top 100 for short game but her ball striking (4th) and Greens In Regulation (8th) are outstanding so we are talking about a player who is in the top 10 in the world and these are all fine margins.
The Need To Win More
I think it was important that she won on the LET towards the end of the 2024 in the Aramco Team Series in Riyadh. I was out walking with her and she really stamped her authority on that tournament. She won by three strokes but it should have been more, on the closing holes you could see that it had been a while – her previous win had come two years before on the LPGA Tour – I don't think it was nerves, more the excitement of finally getting over the line. I know she talks about playing great golf but you do want something to hold at the end, trophy-wise. And in November she got that tangible reward.
Charley Hull wins in Riyadh
The Correct Mentality
Charley is now 28 and I think she'll have a bit of a look at herself and say, where do we want to go now? There are a lot of youngsters coming through but she remains one of the true leading lights in the women's game. If you were to ask the players on the LPGA or LET Tours, who is the one player that they love playing with or watching on the driving range, most would say Charley first and probably Nelly second.
You can compare her almost a little bit in Majors to Rory, I suppose. She's just not had that early clump of victories like Rory but they both need to start winning more of them. Where Rory differs is his ability to win regular tour events and this is something Charley needs to do, then the Majors will more likely follow.
Winning Majors will never be easy, but getting yourself used to final groups, being in contention and converting good golf into wins generally leads to a Major win. She plays better on hard courses and she seems to play better from September onwards, when there are no Majors, so that's a slight issue as well.
Charley Hull on the range at St Andrews
Learning When To Peak
As a leading player this is huge. The first women's Major takes place at the end of April and the fifth and final one comes at the beginning of August, so you really have to peak in the middle of the calendar year.
Charley has said that she doesn't want to play more than a couple of weeks in a row. It's not easy for a UK player to plan out a schedule. For example the US Open is on May 29 and the Women's PGA Championship is three weeks later so does she want to travel back home in between or would she be better having a week off out in the States?
If I was advising her, I'd be saying that might be a good option, as coming back and forth, as much as it recharges you mentally, takes it out of you physically. And I would play the Irish Open the week before the Evian Championship. The scheduling is definitely better this year on the LPGA Tour and it does make it easier to take a week off and then peak at the right time.
