Golf star dubbed ‘female Tiger Woods’ admits she doesn’t do ‘rubbish’ training

One AIG Women’s Open contender was just nine when she was compared to Tiger Woods, but she has always remained her own person, and she has the results to prove it

English golf sensation Charley Hull was just nine years old when she first grabbed the spotlight and was hailed as the next Tiger Woods. The prodigy made waves by clinching the 2005 Ladies Golf Union Championship before even hitting double digits.

Today, the 29-year-old is still on the lookout for her maiden major victory. Known for her unconventional habit of lighting up cigarettes on the course, Hull could snap up that elusive title at the upcoming AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl this weekend.

Granted special permission to smoke during last year’s Solheim Cup, Hull has been a force to reckon with since her pre-teen days of beating adult competition. Yet even as a youngster, she had the maturity to shrug off comparisons with a legend like Woods.

“I want to be my own person really,” a nine-year-old Hull said after her landmark victory 20 years ago. “Everyone is saying you’re the new Tiger Woods and I think yeah, well, whatever. I want to be myself.”

True to her word, Hull has carved out her own identity, not just due to smoking on the course but also in her approach to practice. With top-six finishes in all five women’s majors under her belt, Hull is certainly doing things her way.

The Kettering-born star, who wed MMA fighter Ozzie Smith in 2019 before divorcing two years later, has confessed she’s not a fan of training specifically for her sport and favours her own fitness regimes. She also takes part in Hyrox competitions and was gutted when illness hampered her training 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 upon making a comeback 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, staying active is integral to her lifestyle rather than just her golfing pursuits. And the two-time LPGA Tour winner has dismissed golf-specific workouts as “a load of rubbish,” admitting she finds it hard to engage with them.

In an interview with 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.”

Regarding her notorious smoking habit, Hull recently owned up to puffing on up to 40 cigarettes a day until not long ago. She has said smoking helps her unwind on the course, although she had to abstain during the 2024 Paris Olympics due to a ban.

Since then, she seems to have quit after placing a £10,000 bet with mate Ryan Evans that she could abstain for two months. Hull, who caught the public’s eye by sitting on a tee box at the Women’s US Open, doesn’t seem to have touched a cigarette since.

“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.”