Golf rewards precision, and on Thursday it rewarded Charley Hull with too much of it. At the 2026 FM Championship at TPC Boston, her approach shot found a target with pinpoint accuracy. It was just not the target anyone had in mind.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
The LPGA’s official account caught the moment and posted it for fans, captioning the clip: What are the chances? The footage showed Hull’s ball sitting snugly in the cup holder of a spectator’s folding chair beside the green. A pair of sunglasses and a rangefinder strap also tangled up the ball, adding to the humor.
“It’s like a hole in one, just the wrong hole,” the broadcast commentator said, watching the replay in disbelief.
The odd resting position spot did not slow her down. According to golf’s rules, players can lift, move, or drop nearby if a spectator’s chair is present, as it counts as a movable obstruction. Hull carried on without any real disruption to her round.
The English professional has played the opening round of the tournament. Hull opened steadily before bogeying on the fifth. She responded with a birdie on the seventh, but another bogey on the ninth left her one over. The back nine was bogey-free. Hull recovered and gained a one-over-par with back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th, closing with a one-under 71. At the time of writing, she is tied for 14th with nine others, including U.S.A.’s Yana Wilson and Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup.
The hilarious moment fits into what has been a strong run of form for Hull. Three weeks ago at the PIF London Championship, she shot an 11-under 62 (a bogey-free round) at Centurion Club, a course record! In doing so, she broke the previous course record set by Georgia Hall in 2021. She had opened the week with a 74. She also won her third LPGA Tour title at the Kroger Queen City Championship.
As for the FM Championship, she missed it last year, sidelined by an ankle injury from a fall before the PIF Championship in London. This week she is back in the field as one of the tournament favorites in her last LPGA start before next month’s Solheim Cup.
The FM Championship carries a $4.4 million purse, making it the second-largest non-major total on the calendar this year. The winner will bag $660,000 this year, excluding the 15% payout. Now round two tees off on Friday, and Hull will look to carry the sharpness of her back nine into the weekend, minus the detour to the gallery!