‘I was called the female Tiger Woods but I don’t train for golf and I smoked 40 a day’

One of Britain’s best hopes for the upcoming AIG Women’s Open was once compared to Tiger Woods, and the cigarette-smoking star isn’t like most other golfers you’ll come across

Charley Hull is the cigarette-smoking phenomenon once compared to golf great Tiger Woods(Image: Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Charley Hull was just nine years old when she first made headlines as the second coming of Tiger Woods.

The Englishwoman was compared to arguably the greatest golfer of all time after winning the 2005 Ladies Golf Union Championship before she’d even turned 10.

Fast forward to the present day, and she’s still in pursuit of her first major title. But the 29-year-old, who has built a reputation for smoking cigarettes in the workplace, can finally end the hunt at this weekend’s AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl.

Hull, who was granted permission to smoke at the Solheim Cup last September, wasn’t barely middle school age when she was winning tournaments against adult opposition. But even then, she had the wherewithal to distance herself from comparisons with an icon like Woods.

“I want to be my own person really,” said nine-year-old Hull in a response becoming of someone far beyond her years. “Everyone is saying you’re the new Tiger Woods and I think yeah, well, whatever. I want to be myself.”

And she has stuck to her guns in that regard. As well as verging from the norm when it comes to her smoking habits, Hull, who has finished sixth or higher at each of the five women’s majors, is her own woman when it comes to practice.

In fact, the 29-year-old, who has a role in Happy Gilmore 2, hates training specifically for her craft and prefers to do her own workout routines. She also competes in events like Hyrox competitions and was devastated when a virus curtailed her chances at the Evian Championship earlier this year.

“I’ve not been [to the] gym in two weeks and I’m not going to go to the gym for another two weeks,” she said after returning to action at the Scottish Open last week. “I need my immune system to catch up. It drives me bonkers not being able to go to the gym.”

To Hull, exercise is a way of life not exclusive to her golf career. And the Kettering-born star has dubbed golf-specific training “a load of rubbish” that she struggles to get on board with.

Speaking to BBC Sport, she said: “I don’t train for golf, I train to keep my body and mind fit. I’ve no interest in doing it for golf. I just do it for myself, as a hobby, trying to beat my own fitness goals.

“It’s all this boring movement stuff I’ve been doing since I was 14. It’s just not for me.”

Hull recently gave up smoking in order to win a £10,000 wager(Image: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

As for her infamous smoking habit, Hull recently admitted she would smoke up to 40 cigarettes a day until recently. She has said the practice helps her relax around the course, though she had to go without during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where smoking was banned.

Since then, she appears to have given up after making a £10,000 wager with friend Ryan Evans that she could go without for two months. And Hull, who grabbed attention for sitting on a tee box at the Women’s U.S. Open, doesn’t appear to have picked up a pack since then.

“I think it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said at the Black Desert Championship in May. “Yeah, it’s pretty, pretty, pretty easy. I’m a strong-minded person. Usually when I put my head and my mind to something I can do it.”