Charley Hull produced one of the finest rounds of her career at the PIF London Championship but ultimately watched Canada's Anna Huang claim the title after a late collapse cost the Englishwoman the lead on the final day at Centurion Club in St Albans.
Hull's week began modestly with an opening 74, but she transformed her tournament on Friday with a bogey-free 62 that equalled the lowest round in Ladies European Tour history, according to the BBC. The 11-under-par effort broke the Centurion Club course record previously held by fellow Englishwoman Georgia Hall, who set the mark in 2021. Hull's round also placed her alongside Haeran Ryu, Jessica Korda, Alison Lee and Karrie Webb as owners of the joint-lowest score ever recorded on the tour, the BBC reported.
The 30-year-old made an eagle at the first hole and added nine birdies during her record round, climbing to second place, just one stroke behind Huang, the 17-year-old Canadian who had opened with a 67 and followed it with a 68. Speaking after her 62, Hull admitted she was running on empty. "I have been so tired this week, exhausted from the last couple of weeks, especially after the AIG Women's Open last week," she said, according to the BBC. "I feel pretty tired and my body is in bits. I have got a few ongoing injuries, so I've been having a lot of physio. I'm quite shocked that I've shot 11-under because I felt so tired this morning. It felt like the easiest 11-under of my life."
Hull's remarkable week also came with off-course distractions. The BBC noted she had spent part of the week defending herself over a prank played on her caddie, all while finishing tied for sixth at The Open after entering the final round in contention. Despite the fatigue and the noise around her, Hull said she believed she had left shots out on the course during her record round and wanted to find more.
Wales' Lydia Hall sat in third place after the second round, eight under par following a 67, with Australia's Kristen Bennett and Ireland's Anna Foster (listed as A Donegan) tied for fourth at seven under. England's Alice Hewson, Anne van Dam of the Netherlands and Singapore's Shannon Tan were grouped at six under after round two.
Hull carried her momentum into Saturday's third round, firing a six-under 67 to move into contention heading into the final day. Combined with her record-setting Friday, the two rounds set up what Sky Sports described as a genuine charge toward what would have been Hull's sixth Ladies European Tour title.
On Sunday, Hull looked to be in control for much of the final round. According to Sky Sports, she made five birdies to take a one-shot lead with just two holes remaining, and she still held that one-shot advantage as she played the par-3 17th. But a four-putt on the penultimate hole turned the tournament on its head, handing her a double bogey and dropping her two shots behind the field at the moment it mattered most.
Huang, still only 17, seized the chance. The Canadian holed an eagle putt on the 18th hole to finish at 22 under par for the tournament, securing a two-shot victory and, according to Sky Sports, her fourth Ladies European Tour title. Huang had described her second-round 68 as "a little bit more up-and-down" than her opening 67, telling reporters, "I had a couple of bad mistakes here and there, but it's still something to be proud of," per the BBC. Her closing eagle on Sunday capped a tournament in which she led from the opening round through to the finish, weathering Hull's historic surge in the middle rounds.
For Hull, the result extends a frustrating pattern of near-misses on tour despite flashes of exceptional form. Her course-record 62 will stand as one of the standout individual rounds of the Ladies European Tour season, matching the tour's all-time low score, yet it was not enough to overcome a final-day stumble that has become a recurring theme in discussions of her career. The four-putt on the 17th hole, in particular, will likely be replayed as the pivotal moment that separated a potential sixth LET title from a runner-up finish.
Hull's honesty about her physical condition throughout the week, including references to ongoing injuries and heavy physiotherapy sessions, offers some context for the up-and-down nature of her tournament, from an opening 74 to a record 62 to a final-round collapse. Her admission that she felt she "left a couple of shots out there" even after her record round suggests she entered the weekend believing more was possible.
The Ladies European Tour now moves on to Switzerland, with the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open set to begin Thursday, according to Sky Sports, which will broadcast the event live from 2:30pm on Sky Sports Golf. Attention on tour will also turn toward the Solheim Cup, scheduled for September 11 to 13, where Europe will attempt to regain the trophy. Whether Hull, a mainstay of past European Solheim Cup teams, can carry the form of her record-breaking second round into that event remains one of the storylines to watch as the season progresses.
For now, the PIF London Championship will be remembered both for Huang's composed, wire-to-wire-adjacent victory and for Hull's remarkable 62, a round that briefly made her the story of women's golf in Britain before Sunday's finish shifted the spotlight back to the young Canadian champion.
