An 81 for Charley Hull to open her Olympics looks shocking without context. Hull slipped in the shower in the US at the start of July, the right shoulder injury incurred as a result forcing her to take a break from competitive golf.
Le Golf National is not a particularly forgiving venue for a player trying to retune; only 12 of the field scored under par on Wednesday. “Get that round out of the way and bit of a warm‑up for the British Open now,” Hull said. Medals have already vanished from view.
Freak circumstance hit Hull at the worst possible time. She had been enjoying a fine year, with an Olympic medal and major glory a legitimate aspiration. Instead, she missed the cut at the Evian Championship and now faces a race to be game-ready for that Women’s Open at St Andrews.
“I fell over coming out of the shower before I was getting my flight back from the US,” Hull said. “I thought I tore something but nothing came up on the MRI scan. I just have a bit of arthritis now in my shoulder. I shouldn’t have played Evian. I feel a bit rusty because it’s been five weeks since I last played properly in a four-day event.
“I’m so frustrated. I wish I didn’t have a shower before my flight. I did actually have it going at Evian after my first round and I was still injured there, I was sore. Now I feel like it’s not my first round back if that makes any sense. And I do struggle on golf courses with trees on them and there’s water.
“Now I feel like I do know the course a bit better and I can be bit more confident. I will try to go low tomorrow. When you have an injury it knocks your confidence, not with how I’m swinging it but more mentally. I feel like with a couple rounds under my belt, I’ll be back.”
Hull denied her chances had literally gone up in smoke. She spoke on the eve of the event about her inability to light up cigarettes at the Paris Games, where all venues are smoke‑free. Hull has taken to smoking on the course this year. “It is just because I have been injured,” she said. “It is 100% not because I am not smoking.”
Hull was far from alone in struggling on day one. Her fellow Team GB player Georgia Hall signed for a 74. Leona Maguire, one of the pre‑tournament favourites from Ireland, made birdie on the last but still slumped to a 78. Nelly Korda’s level‑par 72 was perfectly respectable, especially because the world No 1 had been three over after seven.
“I saw the crowds here for the men and to see the similar crowds for the women is just kind of mind-blowing,” Korda said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect walking on to that 1st tee and my first view was the tee. Then I looked out to the green and I just saw four people deep. I told my caddie: ‘Oh my gosh, this is absolutely amazing.’ I did not expect this many people to come out and support everyone out here.”
The early leader would prove to be the most popular gold medallist. France’s Céline Boutier marched to the top of the leaderboard with an opening round of 65. Ashleigh Buhai, the 2022 Women’s Open champion, is closest to Boutier at four under. Mexico’s Gaby López and the two-time major winner Lilia Vu, of the USA, are among a quartet of players at minus two.
