After Charley Hull’s tough Women’s Open finish, 6 words said everything

Charley Hull didn’t expect much of herself coming into this week at the 2025 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl. She had been getting over a virus that knocked her out of the Amundi Evian Championship, she tweaked her back getting a box out of her car, she had been hitting it poorly and she doesn’t really vibe with links golf.

Through two rounds in Wales, Hull’s prediction proved prescient. She entered Saturday 11 shots back of Miyu Yamashita and didn’t look like she’d be a weekend factor. But Hull found something in the third round, pouring in seven birdies in a six-under round to vault up the leaderboard and get within three of Yamashita.

On Sunday, Hull teed it up along the shores of Rest Beach with a chance to hunt down Yamashita and win her first major championship.

Hull came out and made three birdies on the front nine. She then birdied 12 and rolled in a lengthy birdie on the treacherous 14th to trim Yamashita’s lead to one with four holes to play. Buoyed by the pro-Hull crowd in Wales, the 29-year-old star reached the teeth of the course with a golden opportunity in front of her. If she could finish strong, she could apply pressure to the 24-year-old Yamashita, who was two groups behind and had not yet experienced the major championship cauldron.

Hull made a par at the 15th, but then things took a turn.

She tried to lay back off the tee at 16, but her drive found a fairway bunker, leading to a bogey. Another bogey followed at 17 when Hull’s approach went over the green and she missed the par putt. That dropped Hull to three back heading to the par-5 18th. Needing fireworks on the 72nd hole, Hull blistered her drive down the fairway but left her approach shot right of the green behind the bunker. She played a classy pitch over the bunker to 10 feet, but her birdie attempt missed low and she tapped in to finish the championship at nine under, two shots behind Yamashita’s winning mark.

After letting her fourth major runner-up sink in, Hull looked back on the week with pride. There was no lamenting a poor finish. All of this was unexpected.

“Towards the end, I didn’t even hit a bad shot on 16,” Hull said after the round. “I hit a perfect tee shot, and just the wind was howling off the left and didn’t even move it like an inch, like I hit it so pure. It was a bit unfortunate. Then on 17, missing that putt. I hit a good putt right on the line. And then shame about 18 because I had a pretty hard chip over the bunker, and I’d done pretty well just to get it there. Yeah, it was a bit unfortunate, but I felt like I was very much in control of my game today. I don’t feel like I mishit any shots out there. I hit it pretty pure all day.”

Hull now has four runner-up finishes and 10 top 10s in her major career. She’s still searching for that elusive first major win, but she isn’t leaving Royal Portcawl dreading a golden opportunity missed. While the end result will leave her with another scar on her heart, it’s the pride she showed in the fight that will stick with her.

“Listen, coming into this week, I didn’t think I was going to make the cut. That’s the truth of it,” Hull said. “I wasn’t hitting it very well. I couldn’t prepare as well as I wanted to because I was poorly. I obviously collapsed three times in the round in Evian, and then still wasn’t feeling well until Sunday last week. So I think I’ve done pretty well, and considering my mindset coming into it, I’m pretty proud of myself.

“I really enjoyed it out there. I felt so in control of my game, and I know in my head I didn’t hit — it’s not like I whiffed a drive or whiffed a shot. … I don’t feel like I’ve actually mucked it up by mishitting any shots, which I think everybody can probably agree, you know what I mean? Like I played so solid.”

On Sunday, as Hull made her way around Royal Porthcawl, trying to claw her way to Yamashita, she never looked at a leaderboard. When she rolled in the long putt on 14 for birdie to close the gap to one, she had no idea if she was in the lead or still trailing by three. For Hull, Sunday’s final round was an exercise in process and discipline. That’s a process Hull is trying to get back to, something that helped her win the CME Group Tour Championship in 2016.

As Yamashita was doused in champagne on the 18th green at Royal Porthcawl, Hull, the fan favorite who once again left a major championship as a bridesmaid, tried to look at her latest miss in only a positive light. It was similar to Rory McIlroy’s post-round statement after losing the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

She put herself in the mix and gave herself a realistic chance on a Sunday at a major. You’ll take that anytime and let the cards fall where they may.

“A hundred percent, definitely,” Hull said when asked if she would hurt even though she’s proud of her performance. “But at the end of the day, it’s just a game. That’s what I think about, and I enjoyed it out there, and I just love that adrenaline feeling. It’s so good. It’s like a massive hit.”

And still, as Hull viewed her near-miss with perspective and class, one answer betrayed the rest of her five-minute debrief with the press. It was short, but it was there, the same tinge of pain that has graced the faces of Phil Mickelson, Xander Schauffele and others who have beaten their head against the major door countless times while trying to kick it down.

“Just looking forward on building on that from here,” Hull said before briefly glancing away as if to look back on what could have been over the last hour.

“Another second place in a major, yeah.”