One of the game’s most candid characters is also one of its grittiest. Charley Hull’s Kroger Queen City Championship victory won’t just be remembered for the Englishwoman’s shotmaking, but for the toughness it took to even tee it up. Hull arrived at TPC River’s Bend carrying a list of injuries that’d likely have sidelined the average golfer, maybe even an entire golf team.
The 29-year-old tore a ligament in her foot in a car park accident just a week after the AIG Women’s Open, an injury doctors said could keep her out for nine weeks. She was back in three. Complicating matters, she had been battling back problems since earlier in the summer, the result of a torn muscle that developed cysts, Hull indicated. The setbacks followed a frightening episode at the Amundi Evian Championship, where Hull fainted during the tournament.
“I’ve been slapped with every injury at the minute,” Hull said after her win. “I tore the ligament completely in half on my foot…had an MRI on my back as well. My body has been actually pretty good this week. A little bit sore. But I’ve just been absolutely grinding hard at home after I had 14 days off. Hard work pays off, and it has.”
That work showed on the golf course. Hull, already coming off a runner-up finish a week earlier, carried that momentum into this week’s event.
“Coming from the British Open I really wanted to play Canada and Boston after because I was on such a roll,” Hull said. “I was worried it was just going to make me feel down and depressed and put a halt to my game. I’ve managed to battle through it…come back second and won this week. Yeah, I’m pretty happy.”
Interestingly, Hull believes that sometimes, adversity actually slows her down in ways that are beneficial for her golf game. “I always find when I’m poorly, ill, I usually play good golf,” she said. “My mind is 100 miles an hour, but when I’m poorly, I find I’m more relaxed. I expect less, do less, and put less pressure on myself. Then I kind of do better sometimes.”
Her mental toughness, she insists, traces back to her parents’ influence. “If we were to fall over as kids, my dad would say, have you broke anything? No. All right. Go on then. Stop crying and stand up and get on with it. I’ve been taught that from a young age. Pain is a weakness of the mind. I could get it if I couldn’t move my leg or get out of bed, but I can keep moving so just deal with it.”
She may describe herself as a “bit of a car crash” right now, but she’s also proving a force to be reckoned with, perhaps especially when injured.
