It was an eventful day for Charley Hull on Saturday during the third round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl.
The English star began the day at even par but made seven birdies in her first 13 holes to shoot up the leaderboard in Wales. But Hull’s round wasn’t perfect as her wayward tee shot on the fourth tee almost hit Minjee Lee, who was preparing to tee off on the 17th hole.
“Nearly took Minjee out,” Dame Laura Davies said on the broadcast.
After the round, both Hull and Lee joked about the near pelting that occurred along the coastline of Rest Bay.
“Nearly killed Minjee?” Hull said when a reporter asked her to take them through the off-line tee ball. “When I hit it, I shouted fore right, but I said, ‘hope it’s on the tee box,’ and it was, so it was all right. I like Minjee. I wouldn’t want to take her out.”
“I’m glad it bounced big because it flew straight over me,” Lee, who shot four under on Saturday, said. “Some lady or man called out for a left, so I was like, ‘Oh, it’s not coming this way.’ But it came right over me. It was trying to take me out.”
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Almost taking out Lee was almost Hull’s only blemish on a sublime Saturday that saw her fire a six-under 66 to close within three shots of 54-hole leader Miyu Yamashita, who stumbled with a two-over 74 on Saturday.
Hull, who is still searching for her first career major win, enjoyed pinning her ears back on Saturday and trying to close what was an 11-shot gap between her and Yamashita. The deficit is now three and Hull will be in the thick of the Sunday hunt at the year’s final major championship.
“I just kind of enjoy chasing. It’s quite fun. I like it. It’s more fun that way,” Hull said. “I like hunting someone down.”
Hull’s week started with a question mark about her health after a virus forced her to leave the Amundi Evian Championship on a stretcher. She also recently tweaked her back while getting a box out of her car. The 29-year-old lost weight and swing speed due to the virus and arrived in Wales hoping to make some noise, but not confident her game was in the best place to do so.
After vaulting up the leaderboard on moving day at Royal Porthcawl, Charley Hull is in position to make a lot of noise Sunday and perhaps leave Wales with the major win her resume has been missing.
Her mindset as she hunts major No. 1? Simple. Try to put as many circles on the scorecard as possible. There’s nothing to lose.
