BELLEAIR, Fla. — Charley Hull remembers one of the first times that she met Annika Sorenstam in vivid detail.

“I met her on the putting green at the (AIG Women’s) Open when I was nine years old,” Hull said. “I holed a putt in front of her, and she was like, ‘Oh, good putt.’ I was like, ‘Thanks.’ So I was buzzing. But she's always been one of my heroes growing up. Her and Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros.”

So, considering her deeply-rooted admiration of Sorenstam, Hull has made a point to travel to Belleair, Fla. the last couple of Novembers for The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, an LPGA Tour event the 72-time LPGA Tour winner first lent her name to and began officially hosting in 2023.

A 29-year-old Hull has fared pretty well in her previous two appearances at Pelican Golf Club, tying for 25th in 2023 and tying for second in 2024, and through one round in the 2025 edition of the tournament, that trend is looking likely to continue this week in Belleair, Fla.

The three-time LPGA Tour winner kicked off her third appearance in The ANNIKA with a 3-under 67, what was a bit of an up-and-down first-round showing from the Englishwoman.

Hull began the day on the par-4 10th hole with a bogey and then erased that mistake with a birdie on the par-3 12th hole. Hull carded her second birdie of the round on the par-4 16th hole, but made a critical error on 17 right after, carding a double bogey to slip to 1-over for the day. Hull recovered, however, with a birdie on the par-4 18th hole to get back to even par before making the turn at Pelican Golf Club.

Her next birdie came on the par-4 4th hole, and Hull then finished off round one with two birdies in her last three holes, climbing to 2-under with a birdie on the par-5 7th hole and grabbing another birdie on the par-3 9th hole to close out her first round with a 67 and to sit three strokes behind 18-hole leader Haeran Ryu.

And even though it was a bit of a grind to get her under-par round in the clubhouse, Hull was pretty pleased with her Thursday effort, even more so considering she dealt with some slight travel delays while en route to Florida early in the week.

“I played pretty solid considering I didn't get here until Tuesday night and had to pull out of the pro-am yesterday because I felt sick,” Hull said. “So, I didn't play the golf course. I had an early practice and managed to wing it round today. I felt confident in my game and played pretty well.”

She later continued, “(This course is) quite challenging off the tee. Because you got to get it in the right positions, you're having some longer iron shots in. I just enjoy it. I think it's a very, very good golf course.”

Hull is making her 15th start of the 2025 season at The ANNIKA, and in her 14 tournaments ahead of this week, she has made 12 cuts, collected her third career LPGA Tour victory at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G and tallied two additional top-five results at the HSBC Women’s World Championship (T4) and the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club (T2).

She has also earned four other top 15s so far this year, two of which were T12 showings that Hull carded in major championships, doing so at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally at Erin Hills and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.

The seven-time European Solheim Cup Team member came incredibly close in 2024 to winning The ANNIKA, finishing three strokes behind then Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda in a tie for second alongside the Republic of Korea’s Jin Hee Im and People’s Republic of China native Weiwei Zhang.

And while there is certainly still plenty of golf left to play this week at Pelican Golf Club, considering her past history at this venue and the solid start she got off to in round one, Hull is primed to be a contender for The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican title come the conclusion of the final round on Sunday afternoon.

“I'm just happy that I shot under par today, to be fair, with not playing the golf course, feeling poorly and getting in late. So just going out there, having fun,” Hull said. “The atmosphere here this week feels pretty good. It's nice to close these few events in Florida at the end of the year.”

Charley Hull In Contention After Opening 67 at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican

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