Charley Hull’s late arrival for a practice round at the Solheim Cup was caused by a scheduling mix-up, not a night of drinking, Team Europe’s captains said Tuesday at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.
Assistant captain Mel Reid moved quickly to dismiss speculation sparked by a Sky Sports clip showing Hull hurrying to the first tee, with a caption joking that the team had “drinks last night.” Reid said Hull had gone to bed first the previous evening, was among the first players on the team bus and “doesn’t even drink.”
Reid accepted responsibility for the delay, explaining that Hull had believed her tee time was five minutes later than scheduled and that she had been difficult to pull away from the driving range. “It’s a completely false story,” Reid said. “She was literally late because … I couldn’t drag her off the driving range, and she thought her tee time was five minutes later than it was.”
Captain Anna Nordqvist added that the opening group had been sent ahead because players faced a five- to 10-minute walk to the starting hole, which was the third rather than the course’s regular first. Nordqvist said the team knew Hull was on her way and that she would catch up. The episode occurred during practice, so no penalty applied, but officials noted that in Solheim Cup match play a player arriving up to five minutes late would lose the hole; arriving more than five minutes late would result in disqualification.