LPGA star Charley Hull is trying to win the first major of her career at this week’s 2026 AIG Women’s Open, and in her home country of England no less. While Hull remains focused on the job at hand, a minor distraction persists: blowback from a controversial prank she unleashed at her caddie’s expense this week.
In her post-round press conference following a strong opening round at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, Hull defended her caddie prank, called the incident “a joke” and told off her critics, saying, “they can lump it.”
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Charley Hull pulls cruel lottery-ticket prank on her caddie
First, the origin of the story: the controversial prank itself.
Hull revealed the details of her caddie gag while speaking to reporters on Tuesday in her pre-tournament presser at the Women’s Open.
The three-time LPGA winner said she’d gone to a “prank shop” the night before and purchased some fake scratch lottery tickets.
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Later in the players’ lounge at Royal Lytham, Hull chose her longtime caddie, Adam Woodward, as the victim of her trick.
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“We’ve got it all on record. He’s like scratching it, scratching it, scratching it, and he’s like, ‘my gosh, I’ve won.’ He’s taken his hat off. He’s taken his glasses off. He’s literally running around the players’ lounge saying, ‘I’ve won $100,000. I’m taking today off.’ His face looks so happy. He was sweating. He was trembling,” Hull explained on Tuesday. “He couldn’t believe his luck, and we had to tell him it was fake and he nearly quit the job.”
She continued: “I’ve got it on camera to be fair. I’ll try and find it and send it to somebody. It’s absolutely hilarious. This was his reaction when he thought he won 100,000 pounds. It was just hilarious. I think he’s high-fiving everybody.”
Hull did, however, admit to a touch of regret on Tuesday.
“Yeah, I felt bad. Now I have to have my back up because I don’t know what he’s going to do to me for payback,” she said.
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While Hull described her prank as “so funny,” other outside observers disagreed. Some golf fans and commenters on social media found Hull’s lottery-ticket caper to be cruel.
Charley Hull responds to critics of caddie prank: ‘Loosen up’
The criticism persisted right through her first round on Thursday, when she went out and fired a two-under 69 to get into the mix early at the final major of the year.
The round was consequential not only because Hull is trying to win her first major at home, but also because of how close she’s come recently.
She finished runner-up at the 2023 Women’s Open and at last year’s Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl, and she earned another T2 at the U.S. Women’s Open in June.
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But the primary focus of her post-round press conference Thursday evening was the outcry over her prank on Woodward, her caddie.
Hull appeared to be unaware of any criticism. When asked if she’d read anything about it, she said, “No. I don’t have any social media on my phone.”
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When she was asked if she would pull off the gag again, she answered in the affirmative, claiming Woodward “thought it was funny after.”
“Yeah, 100 percent. He thought it was funny after. He’s not uptight. Like it’s a joke. If people don’t like it, they can lump it, do you know what I mean?” Hull said.
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She later added she didn’t regret her actions and said, “people that have complaints about it, I would say loosen up.”
Hull also revealed that she deletes social media from her phone during tournament weeks to stay “in the present moment,” which is why she was unaware of the criticism.
“I don’t really have my social media on my phone on tournament weeks. So I delete it and when I go home I’ll add it again. I don’t really like people seeing me and tagging me and stuff. I like to keep in the present moment,” Hull explained. “But, yeah, I think people need to lighten up if they’re taking that too seriously because it was pretty funny.”
As for her caddie, Hull admitted she “felt bad” for Woodward but also noted that if she continued to play well this week, her caddie would earn even more money than the fake lottery ticket promised, and she would buy him plenty of real scratch tickets.
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“I mean, like I felt bad for Adsy, but at the end of the day I just got to have a good week, and at the end of the week I’ll buy him 100 scratch cards,” she said. “Yeah. Hopefully he can earn more money than that as well this week if we play well.”
With the winner’s share at the 2026 AIG Women’s Open set at a lofty $1.5 million, Hull’s math checks out.
The post ‘They can lump it’: LPGA star defends controversial caddie prank, tells off critics appeared first on Golf.
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