While Charley Hull has proved time and time again that she has the game to take one on the world’s best, it was arguably still a big surprise on Sunday at the Solheim Cup as she beat Nelly Korda 6&4 to give Europe the start to the singles they desperately needed to stand any chance of an all-time great comeback.
Suzann Pettersen needed her top players to make a statement as Europe looked to overturn a 10-6 deficit on the final day of the Solheim Cup. And she would have known that Stacy Lewis would probably put world number one Nelly Korda out first.
Korda had been in the top match in the three previous sessions she had played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, so it was hardly a shock that Pettersen opted to put one of her most fearless players in the number one spot.
What proved to be a shock was the manner of the defeat Korda suffered at the hands of Charley Hull.
Charley Hull reacts to her victory over Nelly Korda at the Solheim Cup
No American would suffer a heavier loss on Sunday than Korda, with Hull wrapping the match up on the 14th hole. Remarkably, the Englishwoman was seven under par for her round, with an eagle coming as the match was conceded.
Korda joked about how she had been outplayed by Hull on social media after the weekend. And speaking in her press conference ahead of the Kroger Queen City Championship, Hull explained what the experience of facing Korda was actually like.
“It was really, really good. I love playing against Nelly. She’s probably my favorite player to play against on the LPGA Tour. And Lilia as well. When I play them two, I really enjoy playing with them two girls,” she said.
“To play against Nelly in the Sunday of the singles, Suzann said to me, she come up to me in the morning and she goes, Nelly is playing really good, but I still think you can compete with her. Just go out there.
“Like I love playing with Nelly. I feel like we got quite similar games. Both quite aggressive, both hit the ball pretty well. Just went out there and I had a kind of score in my head to shoot. Thought if I played 18 holes eight, nine under par, against Nelly probably going to be good match and going to win.
“On this golf course you can make a lot of birdies. I think was seven under after 14 holes and that was good enough. I played pretty solid. It was just great. If I’m playing against Nelly, I just really enjoy it out there. I did what I had to do. Yeah, I feel like that – my mindset going into that day, I was super focused, and I feel like that’s why I’m pretty tired.”
What win over world number one proves about Englishwoman
Hull deserves enormous credit as it did initially appear that she was going to endure a tough week after her first day in Gainesville, with the 28-year-old losing both of her matches on Friday. But she would remind everyone of her talent over the rest of the week, winning three points.
Hull took at least one more point than any of her teammates, while only Lauren Coughlin and Rose Zhang won more on the American side.
The manner of the win over Korda just shows that Hull does have the game to take that next step and become a major champion. And had a couple of results gone a different way further down the order, Hull’s win over Korda would have certainly gone down as one of the all-time great statement performances given how well Korda had played all week.
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