Charley Hull’s on-course smoking was one of the few LPGA Tour tales of the 2024 season that could match Nelly Korda’s incredible success. The Englishwoman’s dart-ripping antics garnered nearly as much media attention as her professional golf performance.
Hull, a fitness icon, decided to give up smoking in early 2025, proving that she was not meant to continue smoking for very long. She even placed a well reported wager that she would not relapse within the first month of her cessation.
Speaking about the subject in a recent interview with the well-liked No Laying Up podcast, the 29-year-old disclosed the reasons behind her smoking habit:
“I discovered that occasionally the golf rounds move far too slowly. You sort of lose your momentum after that, and I get to be quick and always moving in everything I do,” Hull remarked.
That was one of the reasons I smoked in the past—it was a way to pass the time. You just need to calm down. However, about two months ago, I gave up.
On the LPGA Tour, play pace has long been an issue. To help handle the problem, the business recently put a new policy into place.
Despite admitting to using nicotine patches to quell her desires, Hull reassured the interviewer that she does not smoke.
Her declared objective of cutting her 5K race time to 20 minutes was another subject covered by the two-time LPGA Tour winner. She affirmed that 23 minutes and 30 seconds is her current record.
Hull also disclosed how amusingly she came up with that concept:
In around seventeen minutes, my nephew can finish it. In the past, when we were all around 17, 18, and 19, we would all go out and drink together. He and I were both a bit chubster. If you can now do it in 17 minutes, I reasoned, I should have no trouble finishing it in less than 20. My motivation has therefore come from that source.
This season, Hull has only participated in six LPGA Tour events and has missed the cut five times. Her only top-10 result was a fourth-place tie in the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
In the PIF Saudi International on the Ladies European Tour, she also participated and tied for ninth place.
At the Mexico Riviera Maya Open in Mayakoba, Hull made her sixth LPGA Tour appearance of the year. She started slowly, scoring an even-par 72 in the opening round. For her to make the cut, she will need to make significant progress on day two.
