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Charley Hull, one of the LPGA’s most popular and outspoken players, believes the women’s golf tour could benefit from breaking out of its shell.
“I just think the LPGA Tour needs to show more personalities,” Hull told Front Office Sports.
Hull, 30, has three career LPGA wins and is currently No. 8 in the Women’s World Golf Rankings. The Englishwoman also has one of the sport’s largest social media followings, with more than 866,000 Instagram followers. She recently launched a golf-focused YouTube channel, too, even though she admits she doesn’t regularly watch much YouTube content herself.
One way Hull will be showing off her own personality is by competing in the inaugural season of WTGL—the indoor team women’s golf league that launches Nov. 8 and is modeled after the men’s TGL league co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. The 1,500-seat SoFi Center in South Florida is home to both leagues. “As a girl from England, it’s pretty much an English golfer’s dream for the winter,” Hull said. “I wish we had that in the U.K. for the winter to practice in.”
Hull caught up with FOS ahead of participating in this weekend’s “On!vitational,” a content creator competition hosted by one of her sponsors, On! nicotine pouches, at the SoFi Center on Friday and Saturday. Below is a Q&A portion of the conversation with Hull, some of which has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Front Office Sports: What are you most excited about for WTGL?
Charley Hull: I think it’s really good for women’s golf because it’s golf, but with a twist. It’s quite good for a different kind of golfing audience. As a golfer, we don’t really get to play in an arena, where this makes you feel like you’re playing in one.
FOS: How do you feel about the season being just 45 days?
CH: I quite enjoy that, and it’s all before Christmas. It’s kind of hard for me because I’m from the U.K., and I don’t spend more than two weeks away from home, so I’ll be coming back and forth a lot. But for the first season of it, I think it’s really good.
FOS: Do you like WTGL being separate from TGL or should men and women play together?
CH: I think at the minute it’s fine the way it is, because we haven’t done it yet, and the men have. But I’d never say never for the future. I think it would be a great way to promote golf in general. It’s almost like Wimbledon in tennis, how they have the men and the women playing at the same time together. Even something like that would be really good.
FOS: LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler is just over a year into the job. What changes would you make to the tour?
CH: I’m just a golfer. I think what Craig has done is unbelievable, and I’ve got a great relationship with him. I think it’s definitely going in the right direction, and it can only get better. But I just think the LPGA Tour needs to show more personalities, rather than us all looking like just golf, golf, golf. We all have personalities, as well, and I think it’s important for them to get that side of us across.
FOS: Do you ever encourage some of your peers to show off a little more personality?
CH: No, I don’t. I’m just myself, so I don’t know how to actually show off your personality. It’s just a part of me. I’ve actually just started my own YouTube channel because I love playing golf so much. I feel like that is a way I show off my personality and my banter. I think stuff like that’s quite good, even though I actually don’t watch YouTube stuff myself—I just thought it would be fun to do.
FOS: You were once famous for smoking on the course. What’s the latest on your recreational activities?
CH: I stopped smoking about a year and a half ago, and I’ve been using nicotine pouches ever since, and I think the partnership with On! was just perfect for me, especially actually with WTGL coming up because obviously you can’t smoke inside, and I need my nicotine fix somehow, so it’s perfect.
FOS: Do you ever find players asking you for a nicotine pouch sample out on tour?
CH: A lot of the caddies do it, and quite a few players do it. But it is quite funny.
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