Quitting is easy if you truly want to. The hard part is actually wanting it. Charley Hull arrived at the 2024 Solheim Cup after telling herself she was done, with cigarettes in her jacket but no lighter. That’s the mindset you have when you want to quit but aren’t fully committed. When a photographer offered her a smoke, she said yes. The next morning, she was on the course, borrowing a lighter from someone in the crowd, and someone was already filming her.

“My family was like, I thought you stopped smoking. I was like, I have. And I was like, we see it on Instagram. It’s gone viral. I was like, oh okay, cameras are involved. Okay, I cracked, I’m sorry.”

Hull admitted this on the Par 3 Podcast in Augusta earlier this year. She was direct, giving a straightforward account of how her plan failed at the first test. Her family did not call to check in. They saw the footage online like everyone else. The difference between what Hull intended and what happened was clear immediately.

The incident happened three months earlier at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open in Lancaster. Hull was heading to the range when a fan asked for an autograph. She signed, cigarette in mouth, and the cameras caught it. In two days, she gained about 70,000 Instagram followers. Her T19 finish, tied with Carlota Ciganda as the top European, was overshadowed by the image. Reports stated Hull started smoking after being prescribed anti-anxiety medication, which she stopped due to concerns about dependency. Smoking became her way to manage ADHD and stress.

The Olympic smoking ban in Paris made the issue clear. Hull said the restriction would affect her at Le Golf National. This is not a branding decision or a quirk. Smoking is part of her routine, and removing it during competition is not a minor change.

Hull’s situation highlights the ongoing conflict between personal habits and professional demands.

Charley Hull and the John Daly blueprint for accidental iconhood in golf

Golf has always had a tricky relationship with its most unfiltered personalities. In 1991, John Daly showed up at Crooked Stick as the ninth alternate, drove through the night without a practice round, and ended up winning the PGA Championship by three shots. The fans who rallied around him weren’t just drawn to his golf skills. They liked that he made it okay to be unglamorous, unpolished, and not care about the sport’s image, yet still fit in. As one sports outlet pointed out when covering Hull’s Solheim Cup moment, Daly once smoked 21 cigarettes and drank 12 cans of Coke during a single Tour event, without touching any water.

Hull is different from Daly in both her game and her approach, but the reaction from fans is similar. After the Solheim Cup lighter incident, she was called the “People’s Golfer.” By June 2024, her name was known even among those who did not follow the LPGA. Despite efforts to present golf as a polished, exclusive sport, Hull continues to present herself as she is.

In March 2025, Hull agreed to a £10,000 bet with Ryan Evans at Sunningdale Golf Club: she would not smoke for two months or pay the amount. By May, she had gone six weeks without cigarettes, using nicotine pouches to manage cravings. She described quitting as “the easiest thing I’ve ever done.” By July, she had won the bet.

“Just one cigarette. It lit up.”

Her comment referred to the cigarette, but it also reflected her broader attitude.