Charley Hull has well and truly shattered her new playing partner’s first impression of her ahead of this week’s Grant Thornton Invitational — and the result is pure end-of-season comedy gold.
Hull, 29, was originally set to team up with Daniel Berger, but after his late withdrawal, she’s now paired with 23-year-old Michael Brennan, fresh off his breakthrough win at October’s Bank of Utah Championship.
No reason has been given for Berger stepping aside, but Brennan has slotted straight in for a tournament that promises three days of sunshine, shot-making and some very unexpected personality revelations.
The Grant Thornton Invitational tees off Friday at Tiburón Golf Course in Naples, Florida, with a three-round format: scramble on day one, alternate shot on Saturday, and modified four-ball on Sunday.
Defending champions Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp return, as do inaugural winners Lydia Ko and Jason Day. Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners are in the field too, and both Korda sisters are back — Nelly teaming with Denny McCarthy, and Jessica with Bud Cauley.
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But the early headline? Hull and Brennan’s wonderfully awkward “getting to know you” moment on the PGA Tour’s social channels.
Each team was handed a whiteboard and asked to reveal their team name, hype song, rule of the week, key to victory, and one word to describe each other. Harmless enough, right?
At first, World No.5 Hull and World No.35 Brennan were perfectly in sync. They bonded instantly over their shared love of the gym, proudly dubbing themselves Gym Bros. Their hype song? Free Bird. Their key to victory? Just do everything well. And their No.1 rule for the week: never say sorry.
And then came that final question: one word to describe your partner.
Hull looked at Brennan and thought he seemed “cool”, so she wrote exactly that. Brennan, meanwhile, jotted down something… different. Very different.
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Brennan took to the board and Hull blinked at his answer in disbelief.
That’s because he had written “intense.”
“Really? You reckon I’m intense?!” a shocked Hull said to Brennan.
“Yeah you just kind of seem like it,” replied Brennan.
England’s Hull immediately burst the bubble: “I’m like the most laidback person in the world… I couldn’t give a f*** about anything!”
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“Okay!” said Brennan as the video cut away to cries of laughter.
Watch their hilarious exchange here:
It was the perfect moment: the American rookie realising he had completely misread one of golf’s most famously unfiltered characters — and Hull proving, once again, that she’s incapable of being anything but herself.
Now the newly crowned Gym Bros will try to turn that easy chemistry into a serious run at the title. If all goes to plan, they might just have the last laugh again on Sunday evening — this time with a trophy in hand.
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