Charley Hull "proud" of herself after fourth career runner-up finish in the majors

Charley Hull admits she's proud of the way she fought for a tie for second despite not having a great deal of confidence and not being well entering the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl. 

Hull, 29, had got to within a shot of the lead on the back nine but two late bogeys on 16 and 17 and a par on the par-5 18th ultimately cost her dearly down the closing stretch. 

The English superstar finished the AIG Women's Open in a tie for second alongside Minami Katsu on 9-under par and two shots behind eventual winner Miyu Yamashita.

It was nevertheless a valiant effort from Hull, who found herself 11 shots off the pace heading into the weekend in Wales. 

The tie for second agonisingly marked Hull's fourth career runner-up finish in 61 major appearances. 

It was also her third runner-up finish in her last 14 major starts. 

Hull now ranks second for most runner-up finishes in majors without a win in LPGA history. Japan's Ayako Okamoto holds the record for most with six, two more than Hull, Judy Rankin, Rosie Jones and Ruth Jessen.

"I feel pretty good, I finished tied second or something," said Hull reflecting on her week's work with Sky Sports Golf's Henni Zuel. 

"Yeah I feel like I played pretty decent all week, especially coming in to the week and not being very confident.

"So it's strange when you work on your game and get your swing feels, and especially being ill, I'm pretty proud of myself." 

When pressed for whether this week's result gives her confidence moving forwards into the remainder of the season, Hull replied: "Yeah definitely, looking forward to playing in England next week in the Aramco which should be fun."

After the round, Hull made a shock confession to reporters that she never once looked at a leaderboard to gauge where she stood in the final round.

Hull also elaborated further on her lack of expectations coming into the AIG Women's Open. 

"Listen, coming into this week I didn't think I was going to make the cut," said Hull.

"That's the truth of it. I wasn't hitting it very well. I couldn't prepare as well as I wanted to because I was poorly. I obviously collapsed three times in the round in Evian, and then still wasn't feeling well until Sunday last week.

"So I think I done pretty well, and considering my mindset coming into it, I'm pretty proud of myself."

"It just has to be her turn soon," said Dame Laura Davies after listening to Hull's interview. 

"You can't do anything different unless you blow a field away, but we know how hard it is to do that these days.

"She does everything right under pressure, you could say sometimes some players lose it because they can't stand the pressure, but Charley doesn't feel pressure, just like she said at the Solheim Cup, and this will stand her in good stead. 

"Charley's had four runner-up finishes, her turn will come you would imagine and if she keeps playing like this it builds the confidence up. She will have to wait until next year at the Chevron to have another crack at it.

"If she never wins a major it will be a suprise to me."

For Yamashita, 24, she not only captured her first major title but also her first victory on the LPGA.

Yamashita has, however, won an impressive 13 times on the LPGA of Japan Tour. 

The Japanese star was ranked 15th in the Rolex Rankings on the eve of the final major of the season.

She will now break into the top 10 when the rankings update on Monday morning. 

Prior to winning the 2025 AIG Women's Open, Yamashita's best result in a major was a T2 at the 2024 Women's PGA. 

Yamashita becomes the fourth different Japanese player to win a major over the past two years, joining Mao Saigo, Yuka Saso and Ayaka Furue.

Nelly Korda has been dethroned as World No.1 after she finished T36 at Royal Porthcawl.

Korda had been World No.1 for 71 consecutive weeks but she has now been replaced in the top spot by Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul, who finished T30. 

The American won seven times on the LPGA last year but she's yet to register a single win this season.