Charley Hull on teaming up with ‘best mate’ Georgia Hall for Team GB at the Olympics, that viral John Daly-esque smoking moment and her dating life

Charley Hull is no stranger to representing Team GB on the Olympic stage.

The 28-year-old finished joint seventh at the Games in Rio in 2016 and could have made it to Tokyo as well.

However, Hull pulled out of the pandemic-delayed Olympics in 2021, admitting it was the bubble restrictions that ultimately forced her decision.

The two-time winner on the LPGA will tee it up at former Ryder Cup course, Le Golf National on August 7 to 10 alongside close friend and fellow British star, Georgia Hall.

While Paris marks Hull’s second Olympics, Hall will make her debut and the best friends could not be more excited to compete alongside each other.

‘We have known each other since we were 11 and grew up practicing together. It’s perfect to get to play with my best mate,’ Hull enthuses.

The childhood pals have proven to be a formidable pairing in the past helping Europe crush the American Dream at the past three Solheim Cups.

Most recently, they teamed up at the Dow Championship, something which they claimed was a ‘no-brainer.’

Hull also has a special relationship with the Solheim Cup after becoming the youngest player to take part in the competition at the age of 17.

But, while the concept of playing for a country – or continent – is not a foreign one to Hull, she insists there’s a unique element to the Olympics.

‘It’s more personal at the Olympics as we are playing individually for medals,’ she says. ‘Whereas Solheim, although we can win individual matches, there is only one team that wins at the end of the week. You could play really well all week but still lose as a team to the US whereas at the Olympics if I play well I have a chance of a medal.’

Being able to play in the Olympics is a dream,’ she adds. ‘I’m excited for that and also meeting new athletes that I may not have had the chance to meet.’

She admits she has yet to check the schedule to plan which events she wants to catch away from the golf course but there’s one place in Paris she’s determined to get to; ringside.

‘I hope there’s some boxing that I can go and catch as I love it,’ she reveals.

Hull will have no trouble catching other Olympians if she can make it to the Olympic Village – despite competing in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 41 km away.

The village has jokingly been dubbed ‘The Villa’ in a nod to reality TV show, Love Island, by some athletes but Hull admits she will be steering clear of any athlete power couple moves for the time being.

‘I’ve dated guys who golf and guys who don’t,’ she says as she opens up on her dating life.

‘It’s definitely easier if they do because that’s my spare-time passion too. If they don’t play, it’s harder for us to connect. I’ve had a taste of high-profile relationships, but I didn’t love everything that came with it, so I’m steering clear of that for now.’

Hull was previously married MMA fighter Ozzie Smith with the couple tying the knot in 2019 but they divorced just two years later.