Englishwoman Charley Hull is hot on the heels of 54-hole leader Lilia Vu after Moving Day at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass.

The two-time LPGA Tour winner got off to a scorchingly hot start on Thursday in Chandler, Ariz., carding a career-best, 9-under 63 in the first round, what is still the lowest score of the week at Whirlwind Golf Club. Hull then quieted down a bit on day two, recording a 3-under 69 to sit in a four-way tie for second at 12-under overall with 36 holes to play.

Moving Day saw the 29-year-old shoot a 4-under 68 after making two bogeys and six birdies, a round that she was ultimately pleased with as the conditions toughened on Saturday. She had an early misstep on the par-4 1st hole, making a bogey to slip back to 11-under, but Hull recovered with a birdie on the second and then made two more birdies on the par-4 5th and par-5 7th holes to move to 14-under for the tournament as she made the turn.

Hull rose to 15-under with a birdie on the par-5 12th, erasing that effort with a three-putt bogey on 14. She then dug deep with four holes to go, picking up a birdie on the par-4 16th hole and grabbing one last birdie on the par-4 18th hole to post a 68 and sit two shots behind Vu with 18 holes remaining at the Ford Championship.

“I played pretty solid,” Hull said. “The first hole, it was a bit of a different game plan because the wind was a slightly different direction. The first two days, I was getting quite close to the green, and it's quite narrow up there. I hit a 4-iron, and the wind was quite gusty on my second shot, and I just come up short. But it was only a bogey and then I bounced back on the second with a birdie, and then I played pretty solid from there. It was quite tricky out there today.”

Looking at Hull’s past performances playing desert golf, this week’s Ford Championship is already by far one of her strongest showings in these types of conditions. At the 2018 and 2019 Founders Cups that were held at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix, she finished 39th and 58th, respectively, and at the 2023 LPGA Drive On Championship that was contested at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Gold Canyon, Ariz., Hull tied for seventh. She did play in last year’s Ford Championship that was held at Seville Golf and Country Club, but she was forced to withdraw after the first round due to illness.

Whirlwind Golf Club has seemed to fit Hull’s gutsy style of play well over the last three days, something that might be a bit of a surprise considering aggressive golfers sometimes get a little bit loose directionally with their drives and approach shots. Hull did admit after day one that she didn’t feel like this golf course suited her game when she first played it but has been giving plenty of credit to an equipment adjustment as the reason for her ability to score at this venue.

“I tweaked my driver at the beginning of the week,” Hull said on Thursday. “I had Adrian from TaylorMade here, and we was working on that, the new driver, and I really, really, really hit it well today. I felt like that put me in a lot of good positions.”

She later continued, “I looked at it the first two days and didn't really feel like it suited my eye. I spoke to my dad this morning, and he was like, when you first played the CME Group Tour Championship back in 2015, you didn't feel like that suited your eye, but then the next year went out and won it and suited my eye. I was like, oh, yeah. That's a good point. So I trusted my driver today, and I think that was a massive thing. I had confidence in it.”

Sunday will see Hull once again play alongside major winner Vu in the final group at the Ford Championship, something the pair haven’t done on the LPGA Tour since their showdown two years ago at the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. Vu got the upper hand that week, beating Hull by six shots in her home country to pick up the third of four titles that she would collect in 2023.

But Hull is a player who enjoys chasing down leaders, and with only two strokes separating the American from the Englishwoman and maybe a bit of revenge in the back of her mind, a third career LPGA Tour victory is still definitely within reach for Hull, an athlete who will surely put up an incredible fight during the final round at Whirlwind Golf Club.

Charley Hull Hot on Vu’s Heels After Day Three of Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass

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