PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Charley Hull’s mentality on Saturday at the 81st U.S. Women’s Open isn’t fit for print. After she couldn’t get a putt to fall the first two rounds, the colorful Englishwoman “just thought f*** it” and went at everything.
The result? The lowest round of the championship, a glittering 6-under 65 on a picture-perfect day in L.A. Hull roared up the leaderboard to 3 under for the tournament and in position to make a run on Sunday.
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“I kind of like chasing,” said Hull. “I just find it more fun and just I can then be free and then just play golf how I want to play golf.”
Hull, 30, has four runner-up finishes at the majors. To put that in perspective, since 1980, only three players have four second-place finishes at the majors and no major victories, according to Elias Sports Bureau: Ayako Okamoto (6), Rosie Jones (4) and Hull.
The last player to have four runner-up finishes in the majors before breaking through was Beth Daniel, who captured her first at the 1990 LPGA Championship.
For Hull, the goal is to not overthink. Her cousin is with her this week, and their jaunt to Malibu on Friday fulfilled a lifelong dream for her and provided great amusement for Hull.
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“She thought it was going to be like this amazing place, and she had this dream and thought it was going to be – you know how like the Barbie movie like you see people walking around with like surfboards going out in the ocean, just everything,” said Hull.
“We got down there and I was like, we’re in Malibu. She’s like, no, we’re not. I’m like, yeah, we are. She’s like, my lifelong dream is like being crushed. She was devastated. It was absolutely hilarious.”
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: US Women’s Open 2026: Charley Hull contending after 65 in third round
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