“It’s official, very excited to be part of #teammalbon.”
Jason Day made headlines last week at the PGA Tour’s The Sentry in Hawaii when he showed up with a new apparel sponsor, Malbon Golf. The Aussie had been with Nike since 2016, but will wear clothes from the modern and stylish brand in 2024. On Wednesday, Malbon Golf announced another signing to its team — LPGA star and world No. 8 Charley Hull.
During the 2023 season, Hull grabbed eight top-10 finishes in 19 starts. The Englishwoman represented Team Europe at the Solheim Cup in Spain, going 1-2-0 in three matches.
“It’s official, very excited to be part of #teammalbon. Proud to represent this stylish and creative lifestyle brand,” Hull said on social media Wednesday.
Here’s a look at which top players are in the field for this year’s TOC and which ones are sitting out.
The LPGA season kicks off next week with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, and World No. 1 Lilia Vu headlines the field. It marks the first time that Vu has been eligible for the field given that she won her first career title last February at the Honda LPGA Thailand and went on to win three more times, including two majors.
The season-opener takes place Jan. 18-21 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida. LPGA winners from the past two seasons are invited to compete for a $1.5 million purse while a field of celebrities vie for $500,000.
Once again, Lake Nona resident Annika Sorenstam will compete in the celebrity field along with NBC’s Dylan Dreyer, U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Landon Donovan, eight-time NBA All-Star Vince Carter, country music star Chris Lane and World Series Champion John Smoltz.
While Vu and No. 2 Ruoning Yin begin their 2024 seasons next week, six players inside the top 10 of the Rolex Rankings are skipping the first event. For many international players, the lure of a longer offseason outweighs the perks of the TOC.
While there are two events in Florida to start the season in 2024, with the LPGA Drive On event in Bradenton the following week, the tour then has three weeks off before beginning the spring Asian swing in Thailand.
Here’s a look at which top players are in the field for this year’s TOC and which ones are sitting out:
‘Tis the season for long-standing traditions and reflecting on days gone by, but TaylorMade’s new tradition of dropping a holiday card on social media featuring its star-studded tour staff got social media buzzing once again on Tuesday.
This tradition started in 2019, when, seemingly out of nowhere, the brand sent actual holiday cards in the mail that featured Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and other stars wearing Christmas-themed pajamas. It continued in 2020, digitally, and has become something that golf lovers look foward to seeing every December.
On Tuesday, the 2023 holiday card dropped and it adds a Tiger Woods tradition twist. In 2016, the 15-time major winner posted a bare-chested photo of himself as Mac Daddy Santa, a tradition his children — Sam and Charlie — love.
This year, Mac Daddy Santa is overseeing toymaker elves that include Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Brooke Henderson, Collin Morikawa, Charley Hull and Nelly Korda.
“Sometimes you feel like you’re a prisoner in your own head.”
NAPLES, Fla. – There are times when Georgia Hall goes out to breakfast with her best mate Charley Hull and finds herself dining alone midway through her meal. Hull isn’t one to stay in one place for very long. When she’s done eating, she leaves.
“That’s just Charley,” said a smiling Hall, who isn’t bothered one bit.
Hull can’t remember the last time she watched a movie in the theater.
“I’d have to go to about 10 toilet breaks,” she said, “and just keep coming in and out. It’s just crazy.”
Hull, 27, told the BBC back in July that she’d been unofficially diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The realization came earlier this year after playing a casual round of golf with a doctor. Hull has been learning more and more about the disorder ever since.
At the LET’s Aramco event in London this summer, Hull slept for 2½ hours over the course of four days. She eventually crashed, sleeping for 16 hours straight.
“I had Georgia ringing my phone,” she said, “checking if I was OK.”
Charley Hull of England looks on during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 17, 2023 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Now the eighth-ranked player in the world, Hull views golf as her therapy but can’t be away from home for too long because she’s a self-described “overthinker.” It’s the downtime at tournaments that she finds most difficult. Hull tries to fill the time as much she can at the gym or with Hall, her friend of 17 years. She enjoys coloring books and cold showers.
Things began to take a turn for the worse last spring after she missed the cut at the Chevron Championship and went to a friend’s house in Los Angeles. She was averaging about an hour of sleep per night at that point and felt completely drained as her mind raced relentlessly.
In late April, Hull abruptly pulled out of the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown and went home, leaving Team England scrambling to fly in a replacement. Hull eventually decided to open up about her diagnosis after receiving criticism for how she’d handled the Crown.
When Hull won the CME Group Tour Championship seven years ago, she knew nothing about anxiety.
“I used to laugh at people who had it because I didn’t understand it,” she said.
It wasn’t until 2018 that something in her personal life, which she doesn’t want to talk about, triggered a change.
She’s been finding ways to cope ever since.
“Sometimes you feel like you’re a prisoner in your own head,” said Hull, who describes herself as moving at one speed: 100 mph. Her coping strategy is to leave the house at 7 a.m. and not come back until 11 p.m.
“I can’t sit down,” she said.
Anyone who has watched Hull compete can’t help but notice her speed, particularly the way her blonde ponytail whips about as she lashes after a golf ball. Everything Hull does feels like it’s on a fast-forward setting, from the way she walks to how she talks.
Hull isn’t one to dwell on a poor shot or an unlucky bounce. Her mind won’t allow it.
Charley Hull of England celebrates with Georgia Hall in the 18th green after winning The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America at Old American Golf Club on October 02, 2022 in The Colony, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
“She’s just so exciting to watch,” said Hall. “She plays really carefree, and it’s just great to see. A lot of players wish that they could play as free as her.”
Not surprisingly, slow play is Hull’s enemy. She tries to combat boredom by soaking in the views and drinks plenty of water to keep her brain sharp.
“I drink a lot of water, and I’ve never understood why I drink a lot of water,” said Hull. “I found out it’s actually a big thing with ADHD.”
Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott, co-founders of Vision54, have noticed that many young people they work with these days struggle to stay focused during a lesson.
They’ve found attention training to be a helpful practice for many of their students, asking them to, for example, make a swing and feel the pressure of their grip. Can they get to 15 seconds of following their own breath? Can they keep their eyes softly focused on a target for 10 seconds? It’s like training a muscle.
When working with someone with ADHD, Nilsson and Marriott might change activities at a faster rate or ask a student to teach them what they’re working on to create a more lasting impression.
“As little talking as possible,” said Marriott, “and more doing.”
Hull’s ability to take certain medications for ADHD is restricted by LPGA anti-doping policies, though she worries that too people many have become reliant on pills.
“I feel like doctors just handing out tablets willy nilly is disgusting,” said Hull, “because it can actually make the person worse.”
A two-time winner on the LPGA, Hull has finished runner-up four times this season and entered the weekend inside the top 20 at the season-ending CME. Perhaps her most memorable on-course moment from the season came at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, when she took an aggressive line under a tree with a 3-wood trying to reach the iconic 18th green in two to put pressure on leader Allisen Corpuz.
“You know the saying, shy kids don’t get sweets?” Hull asked her caddie shortly before taking a mighty big swing.
Hull works fast and aggressively in all parts of life, which is what makes her so much fun to watch. When she won her second LPGA title in Texas last year, she celebrated by buying herself not one but two Rolex watches.
And while Hull isn’t shy about sharing the details of her daily struggles, she isn’t looking for sympathy or offering any excuses.
“I’ve learned that with life you’ve just got to ride it out, because you have good days and bad days,” she said while signing autographs in Naples.
“I feel like people are way too soft these days. You can’t say certain things and this and that. And a lot of people do blame it on mental health. But at the end of the day, go back 50 years ago … times were a lot harder, and people just got on with it.
Since then, Hull has become a fixture on the LPGA, winning twice and making five Solheim Cup appearances. Her most recent victory came at the Volunteers of America Classic, and she opened the 2023 season with a share of second at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
At the 2022 Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas, Hull finished at 18 under to end a five-year drought. She previously won the 2016 CME Group Tour Championship. The Englishwoman also has a trio of wins on the Ladies European Tour.
“I love a challenge,” Hull said after winning the VOA. “I play off the backs at home, off the back tees with the boys, and I always try and push myself to tricky golf courses when I’m at home.”
Here’s a look at some of Hull’s golf moments through the years.
The European Solheim Cup team can relate to the plight of Zach Johnson’s Ryder Cup team.
After the Americans swept the Friday morning foursomes session in Spain at the Solheim Cup, the situation was reversed one week later in Rome.
Now it’s Team Europe that owns a commanding 4-0 lead after the opening session.
So how did the Euros manage to turn things around last week after such a demoralizing start?
Dame Laura Davies, one of Suzann Pettersen’s assistant captains, said on Golf Channel earlier this week that she gives massive credit to Charley Hull’s caddie Adam Woodward.
Charley Hull of The European Team plays her third shot on the second hole in her match against Danielle Kang during the final day singles matches on Day Three of the Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin Golf Club on September 24, 2023 in Casares, Spain. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
After the morning shellacking, Woodward played two songs back-to-back in the European team room: “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees and “Things Can Only Get Better” by Howard Jones.
“As players trickled in … the mood was very quiet,” said Davies, “so Adam did a very clever thing by putting those two songs on, and everyone was chuckling going out into the afternoon knowing we had a job ahead of us, but that team spirit from the European team room sent everybody out in a slightly better mood than when they walked in, and that’s very important.”
Three players went unbeaten over the three days but only one earned 4 points over the five sessions.
CASARES, Spain — The 2023 Solheim Cup couldn’t have been closer.
The 18th edition of the biennial bash between the United States and Europe was all square at 8-8 entering Sunday singles, and after the final 12 matches – five won by the both teams and two ties – the competition ended in a 14-14 tie, and the Europeans retained the Cup.
In the event’s 23-year history, the Americans have taken home the trophy on 10 occasions, with the Europeans earning the other eight. Team Europe hasn’t lost since 2017 in Iowa.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda was the only player to score four points this week (4-0-0) and was one of four players who went unbeaten, joining Gemma Dryburgh (0-0-2), Megan Khang (3-0-1) and Cheyenne Knight (2-0-1). Two players went winless for each team, but only one failed to earn a point.
Here’s a breakdown of how each player fared this week by event at the 2023 Solheim Cup.
“I actually picked up my tour bag last week and that kind of started it.”
One day after Suzann Pettersen told the media that Charley Hull is not injured, Hull told Golf Channel’s Amy Rogers that she is, in fact, dealing with neck pain.
One of the hottest players on the LPGA coming into the Solheim Cup, Hull has only played in two sessions so far, losing with Emily Pedersen in Friday foursomes and winning alongside Leona Maguire Saturday afternoon.
Hull, who has kinesiology tape on the back of her neck, told Rogers that she’s suffering from a facet sprain.
“I actually picked up my tour bag last week and that kind of started it,” she said, “and then I’ve done it from sleeping as well on the plane over here.”
Hull said she’s operating at about 70 to 80 percent right now. She faces Danielle Kang in Sunday singles in the third match of the day. A veteran of five previous Solheim Cups, Hull has four runner-up finishes on the LPGA season including two majors.
“It’s been pretty sore, I’m not gonna lie,” Hull told Golf Channel. “I’ve kind of had to change my swing a little bit to kind of turn through it.”
The Englishwoman plans to take next week off to rest up for her LPGA title defense next month at the Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America in Texas.
World No. 2 Lilia Vu is on the bench for the opening matches, as is rising star Rose Zhang.
CASARES, Spain — The opening tee shots of the 2023 Solheim Cup are just hours away and the first group of pairings have officially been announced.
Friday morning’s foursomes pairings and matches at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s southern coast were released during the opening ceremony Thursday night at nearby Marbella Arena, with none other than U.S. star Lexi Thompson, who has struggled this year, set to take the first swing alongside Megan Khang against European and Swedish rookies, Linn Grant and Maja Stark.
Notably on the bench for the American side are world No. 2 Lilia Vu, who won two major championships this season, as well as rising star Rose Zhang, who has a penchant for match play.
“I wanted to get off to a good start. I wanted to get out four really good pairings and that’s kind of been my focus this whole time,” said U.S. captain Stacy Lewis. “So it was more about who matched up together versus even — I didn’t even look at who was sitting, to be honest. I wasn’t even worried about who was sitting. It was more just what are my best four options.”
“For my sake, I feel like I’ve had these four pairings down on paper for quite a few months now,” added European captain Suzann Pettersen. “It was more like in what order do you play ’em.”
Check out the four matches and pairings, as well as the eight players who will ride the pine pony for the first session of matches at the 2023 Solheim Cup. (Note: Spain is six hours ahead of Eastern Time in the U.S.)
If you look at past records, the advantage at the 2023 Solheim Cup lies with the home side Europeans.
CASARES, Spain — Who are the favorites at the 2023 Solheim Cup?
The gambling experts in Las Vegas currently have the host Europeans as the favorites at -115, but it’s a close bet with the Americans at +100. A tie is currently +950.
The Rolex world ranking gives the U.S. side a slight advantage as all 12 Americans are ranked inside the top 50. Nine Euros are inside the top 50, with two outside the top 120.
If you ask United States captain Stacy Lewis, she’ll say Suzann Petersen and her European counterparts have to be favored. After all, Team Europe has claimed the last two Cups and will be playing on home soil.
“And that’s not to doubt my team. I just think Europe is really, really strong. They have got all the momentum in this event right now,” said Lewis last month when she made her captain’s picks for the biennial event that begins on Friday at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s southern coast. “That’s going to be our biggest thing is we are going overseas, and we don’t have the momentum on our side. And so we are going to go try to flip it.”
“We have a lot of new blood that has not experienced the last two years,” Lewis continued. “They don’t know what it’s been like, and I think that’s going to be to our advantage, as well.”
Sure, ignorance can be bliss, but the other side of that coin is a lack of high-pressure experience in a truly unique event. That could be an issue for the U.S., who fields a 12-player team this week that features five rookies.
Not only is Team Europe two-time defending champions, but of the 24 players competing, nine have winning records in the event, and six are European.
