Charley Hull’s Olympic hopes go up in smoke - but not for the reason you think

Georgia Hall sits middle of the pack but Team GB’s more experienced Olympian endured a dreadful first round on the course

(Getty Images)

Charley Hull refused to blame a Le Golf National smoking ban for her Olympics hopes turning to ashes at Paris 2024.

The Team GB star, who regularly lights up cigarettes while competing at major tournaments, shot 81 at the iconic course yesterday and sits third-bottom of the 60-strong leaderboard.

Hull, 28, arrived in the French capital earlier this week only to be informed that smoking was prohibited at all Olympic venues.

The world No.11 suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and after her practice round on Tuesday, claimed smoking while she played kept her ‘relaxed’.

She looked to be struggling with being forced to play in different conditions during a horror-show opening round – but insists a freak injury sustained while travelling back from America last month was the problem.

Asked if being unable to smoke affected her performance, the two-time LPGA Tour winner insisted: “No, not at all.

“Definitely not – it’s just because I’ve been injured.

“I don’t think a lot of people realise that I took 10 days off golf and had an MRI and everything.

“That is 100 per cent why [I played the way I did] – and not because of the smoking. This is my first week back after injury, and it’s just about getting that first round out of the way.

“I fell over when I was on the way back from America – I then had to take a week and a half out of golf because they thought I’d torn something and I had to have an MRI. I fell over when I came out of the shower before my flight – it’s been five weeks since I last played properly, so I feel a bit rusty and it’s my first four-day event. I feel so frustrated.”

Hull endured a torrid time on the famous Le Golf National fairways as a double bogey on the very first hole set the tone for the day.

Charley Hull at Le Golf National (Getty Images)

She never recovered and went on to rack up seven more bogeys to sign for a score nine over par and sit above only Finnish duo Ursula Wikstrom and Noora Komulainen on the leaderboard.

Hull tied for seventh when representing Team GB as a fresh-faced 20-year-old at Rio 2016 before opting to withdraw from Tokyo 2020 owing to Covid-related bubble restrictions.

And she is hoping for a significantly improved performance at the storied 2018 Ryder Cup venue as she bids to spark an improbable comeback.

“I’ve got one round under my belt, so hopefully tomorrow it won’t feel like the first one back,” added Hull, who remained visibly upbeat and jovial with media in the mixed zone.

“It’s a scoreable golf course, very short and you can get a good score- I just didn’t hit it in the right positions. Hopefully I’ve got the rust out of me and I’m looking forward to hopefully shooting nine under tomorrow!”

Later in the day, Hull’s British teammate and close friend Georgia Hall shot 74 to sit in the middle of the pack.

Hall, the 2018 British Open champion, is making her Olympic debut here in Paris and relishing the honour of representing her country alongside both Hull and men’s silver medallist Tommy Fleetwood.

“It’s obviously such an honour to represent Team GB – I’m a very proud British person, so it’s great to wear all the kit, wear the flag, and hopefully give people something to cheer about over the next few days,” said the 28-year-old, who remains nine shots off French home favourite and day one leader Celine Boutier.

“Charley and I spend a lot of time together – three days is a lot of golf to be played so we’ll see what happens for both of us.”

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