Charley Hull refuses to apologise after £100,000 scratchcard prank on caddy

Charley Hull has delivered an emphatic, unapologetic response towards those who criticised a prank on the eve of the Women’s Open.Hull used pre-tournament media duties to reveal she bought fake scratchcards in a Blackpool joke shop, before using one to trick her caddie, Adam Woodward, into believing he had won £100,000. Hull filmed Woodward’s initially euphoric and subsequently despondent reaction to the incident.While some onlookers saw the funny side of the stunt, Hull also drew harsh words for her treatment of Woodward. Many perceived it as unduly cruel. The caddie has worked for Hull for the vast majority of her professional career. Hull’s carefree, playful nature is well known within her sport.In this instance, Hull cares little about splitting opinion. “People that have complaints about it, I would say loosen up,” Hull said after a two-under-par 69 to start her challenge at Royal Lytham & St Annes. “I don’t have my social media on my phone on tournament weeks. I delete it and when I go home I’ll add it again. I don’t really like people seeing me and tagging me and stuff. I like to keep in the present moment. But I think people need to lighten up if they’re taking that too seriously because it was pretty funny.”Hull added she would “100%” participate in a similar scenario again. “He thought it was funny after, he is not uptight,” she said of Woodward. “It’s a joke. If people don’t like it they can lump it, do you know what I mean?“I felt bad for Adam but at the end of the day I have just got to have a good week. At the end of the week I’ll buy him 100 scratchcards.” A peculiar business.Hull trails the early leader, Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul, by five shots. The Thai player has been astonishingly consistent in majors – posting 11 top-10 finishes since 2021 – but is yet to win. Perhaps Lytham will be key – Thitikul won top amateur honours as a 15-year-old when the Women’s Open was staged here in 2018. Thitikul’s close shaves on the biggest stage are worthy of comparisons with Hull. Her 64 was the lowest score in a Lytham Women’s Open.Ryu Hae-ran’s ambition is not only to extinguish the hopes of her rivals but secure a little piece of history. Until Thitikul’s surge, Ryu topped the leaderboard. Victories at this year’s PGA and Evian Championships mean she is in the incredible position of seeking a third major win in a row. Only four female golfers have achieved the feat yet Ryu’s position is unique. She has not played in any other tournaments outside the majors in question.Unsurprisingly perhaps, the South Korean responded with a firm no when asked whether she has contemplated three from three. Fifty-four holes in a links environment provide the epitome of a long way to go. Still, her five-under-par 66 – which included half a dozen birdies and an outward half of 31 – felt significant.Ryu Hae-ran has won the past two majors on the women’s tour and is going for a hat-trick at Lytham. Photograph: Jon Super/AP“I felt so hard on this type of course that I cannot focus on the win,” Ryu said. “I have to just enjoy my golf and not stress too much. Today’s score is pretty good but we have three more days and this is a major. I just keep thinking about myself, not winning, and keep enjoying myself on the golf course.”Ryu has always been an elite ball striker, with her greens in regulation statistics remarkable. Improvement in putting has elevated her game in 2026. “These days my golf is pretty good,” said the 25-year-old with more than a whiff of understatement. Shiho Kuwaki later matched Ryu’s first-round total.Lottie Woad’s 69 enhanced hopes of a home winner, eight years after England’s Georgia Hall prevailed at Lytham. Woad has quietly risen to fifth in the world rankings, little over a year since she turned professional. Her round owed much to avoiding every one of Lytham’s 174, highly penal bunkers. Woad’s approach is an aggressive one. “I think I hit the most drivers out of anyone in my group,” she said. “It’s one of my strengths, so I didn’t see the point in laying back.“Some of the par fives are pretty tight off the tee but they’re probably the only birdie opportunities you’re really going to get round here so I was just always trying to play driver for those.”Minjee Lee made birdie at the par-three 1st and bagged an eagle at the 6th but still slumped to a 75. The former champion Sophia Popov was 10 shots worse than that. The English duo of Mimi Rhodes and Annabell Fuller both signed for 71. Lydia Ko is also even par. Nelly Korda is far from out of this tournament but has significant work to do after opening with a two-over-par 73.