Aramco Team Series: confident Hull bounces back after quintuple bogey to grab share of lead in London
- Charley Hull rattles in 10 birdies in a round of 68 to finish in tie for the lead with American Nelly Korda
- Hull says she never lost confidence despite the 10 she took on the par-5 sixth hole at Centurion Club
Most golfers would implode after taking 10 on a par 5 early in their first round, Charley Hull went completely the other way at the Aramco Team Series London event on Friday.
The 27-year-old bounced back from a quintuple bogey at the 474-yard sixth hole to finish at five-under-par and in a share for the lead with Nelly Korda at a drenched Centurion Club.
Hull rattled off eight birdies in the next 12 holes, starting at the seventh, and said she never lost her confidence, despite the struggles which started with a tee shot going out of bounds “by a long way”.
“I just know that I’m confident and I’m playing well,” Hull said. “It’s one bad hole, even though it’s a 10. I know it does effect a lot of people, but I managed to bounce back.”
The Englishwoman came into the tournament on a high after finishing second at the US Open last week. It can’t have hurt that she played the Hemel Hempstead course a fortnight ago from the tees set up for last week’s LIV Golf London event, and finished five-under then as well.
“It’s just confidence with my swing,” she said. “I’ve actually had a pretty good season. I know that I’ve missed three cuts, but other than that I’ve not really finished outside the top 20.
“To be fair it was just one bad thing and I’d birdied two of three holes before that, so I was kind of pumped up, but I managed to make a 10 at a birdieable par 5, and if I’d made 6 shots less I’d have been 11 under.”
Hull’s score was matched by Korda, even if the American’s 68 during a day of torrential rain was more traditionally come by.
Sitting on one-under after her only mistake of the round at 12, where she hit her tee-shot “a little right”, Korda then birdied the next three holes, added another at 17 and joined Hull at the top of the leader board.
“The conditions got worse and worse as the day went on,” Korda said. “Overall, I played really well. I made one boo-boo and that was for my bogey, but other than that I played pretty solid.”
Hull, along with Isabella Deilert, Hayley Davis and former England footballer Teddy Sheringham, finished top of the team leader board as well, combining for a total of 18 under.
The team performance of the day though might have belonged to the one captained Virginia Carta. While all individually having a day to forget, combined to end the day just two shots back of the leaders.
Carta (+3), Emma Grechi (-1), Camilla Lennarth (+4) and amateur Andrew Hibbert all had a healthy dose of birdies, as well as some ugly double bogeys, in their rounds but managed to score when their teammates struggled.
