Solheim Cup vice-captain hits out at ‘false story’ about Charley Hull in unprompted defence

Charley Hull did not turn up late for Solheim Cup duty due to late night drinks – it’s fake news.

That’s the verdict of Team Europe’s vice-captain Mel Reid, who has rejected the claim made by the 30-year-old herself.

Getty

Hull was two minutes late for her scheduled practice tee time on Tuesday morning at Bernardus Golf.

It saw her tee off alone behind her group, with Hull shortly catching up with her teammates including Lottie Woad further up the fairway.

In a clip that has gone viral on social media, a jovial Hull proceeded to crack a joke to explain her tardiness.

Through laughter, she quipped: “We had drinks last night!”

What has been said about Charley Hull?

With many fans failing to get the joke from the teetotal golfer, Reid has now come to the defence of the Kettering native.

Reid – a two-time Solheim Cup winner – has instead accepted responsibility after claiming Hull thought her tee time was later.

She told reporters, rather unprompted: “It is a completely false story.

“Charley Hull was the first one to bed last night at eight o’clock and the first one on the bus this morning.

“She doesn’t even drink, so that is a completely false story that has been misquoted.

“She was late to the tee because I was responsible for her so I will take a little bit of responsibility for that.

Getty

“She just thought her tee time was a little bit later and trying to drag Charley Hull off the range is a feat in any tournament, especially a Solheim Cup.”

After Reid was then told that many in the golfing world were unaware of the story she was referring to, the 38-year-old declared she wanted to nip the news in the bud before it got any more traction online.

Reid added: “I kind of want to shut this down before people start talking about it.

“She was late because one, I couldn’t drag her off the range and two, she thought her tee time was five minutes later.”

Hull touched down in the Netherlands on Monday night as she prepares to feature in her eighth Solheim Cup – which starts on Friday.

And Team Europe skipper Anna Nordqvist has insisted that Hull was allowed to make the journey later than her teammates as she also played down the non-story.

Getty

She remarked: “It has been really nice to see how much Charley has started to embrace the whole Solheim Cup atmosphere, it is nice to see how excited she is.

“I flew in on Saturday, some of the girls flew in on Sunday. For Charley, we decided she was going to be better off preparing at home in England so she flew in last night.

“I was on the 1st tee this morning, I told the other three girls to go.

“It takes a good five or ten minutes to get out there so I told them Charley would just catch up because we knew she was on her way.”

Never one to stay out of the headlines, it was only in July that saw Hull receive backlash from supporters following a harmless prank played on caddie Adam Woodward, convincing him that he had won £100,000 on a fake scratchcard.

Hull proceeded to declare she would buy Woodward 100 scratchcards following the conclusion of the Women’s Open.