Well, Charley Hull did not see this coming. After 1,077 days of winless drought, she bounced back in style to grab her third LPGA Tour title. What a way to win! The final round of the Kroger Queen City Championship took an unexpected turn, and Hull seized the moment to emerge victorious, sparking widespread praise across the golf world.

On Sunday, Hull came with momentum, hoping to inch closer to the top of the leaderboard. She was sitting on rounds of 68, 65, and 67 and had a slim one-shot edge over world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul. Still, not many thought she had a chance, as Thitikul was stellar on the course. And by the 18th hole, it did look like Hull might have to settle for yet another heartbreak. Thitikul had snatched the lead, and she just needed a simple, steady finish. It’s a right-hand job for someone of her calibre. But golf has its way of turning cruel. The Thai four-putted for bogey. Hull, appearing calm on the outside, with shaking hands, rolled in her birdie and snatched the title at 20-under. One woman’s loss is another woman’s win, it was.

Indeed, it was a twist no one saw coming, not even Hull herself. “When I realized I had it for the win, I had this mad shock of adrenaline come through me and my hands were shaking,” she admitted afterwards. It was the kind of finish for the movies, considering how Hull has spent this year battling her own body more than golf’s contentions.

This was Hull’s first LPGA start since the AIG Women’s Open, where she had finished runner-up. On the outside, it might seem impressive, but in fact, it came amidst all the physical setbacks she had been dragging this season. Earlier in the summer, she hurt her back just picking up a box. It never fully recovered as she later found out that several cysts had appeared on her spine. Then came the Evian Championship, where she passed out twice on the course due to a virus. That led her to withdraw. And just a few weeks later, she tripped over a curb at the PIF London Championship and tore a ligament in her ankle. At that time, she had said she would be out resting for at least nine weeks. But here she is now, with a brand new trophy in her hand.

“My body has actually been pretty good. A little bit sore,” she admits. Hull, in her words, has been “absolutely grinding” after she rested because of her injury. In the last week, she practiced constantly, and it eventually paid off. “Every dog has its day.” Hull’s last three starts now read like a redemption arc: runner-up at the AIG Women’s Open, runner-up again at the Aramco Houston Championship, and now a victory in Cincinnati. She will take home a whopping $300,000 after this win!

The golf world saw Hull’s determination, and the internet poured endless love her way.

Charley Hull soaks in the praises from the golf world

Praises kept coming for Charley Hull as she basks in glory for her third LPGA Tour victory. The official account of LPGA on Instagram posted a selfie, where Hull is seen holding the much-desired Kroger’s Championship trophy — Ally Ewing and Minjee Lee‘s as previous champions visible on it. Just a year ago, Hull came agonizingly close before she lost to Lee. Now here she is with the trophy, who will bear her name as the 2025 champion. Amanda Balionis jumped into the comments with a fitting reply: “👏👏👏.”

LPGA’s Instagram did not hold back from posting multiple pictures and videos of Hull’s last round moments. Another video from the account shows Hull’s final putt, her hands trembling as she picks up the ball from the hole, trying to believe what has just happened. Unable to contain her smile, she turns around with the crowd applauding her and then hugs her opponent, a clearly dejected Jeeno Thitikul. The caption of the video read, “Charley Hull conquers Queen City.” The video received more than 5k likes, two of them being those of Lydia Ko and Grace Kim. This captures the camaraderie and respect players have for each other, as Ko is closer to Tihitkul than Hull, with the Thai often calling the Hall of Famer her “idol.” Ko, in the past, has also called Hull and Tihitkul “some of my favorite players to play with.”Another post by LPGA saw Danielle Kang commenting, “🔥🔥🔥🔥.” The two have faced each other in several Solheim Cups.

Then some players posted a separate story for Charley Hull’s victory. One of them was Mel Reid, who shared a very sibling-like bond with Hull. “WE LOVE A @charley.hull WIN,” she wrote. Reid has multiple stories up her sleeve about Hull’s unfiltered nature. She once recalled how Hull, jokingly, asked how Reid’s spe*m was. “ [Hull] means Kai. She just called him my spe*m ’cause she’s still extremely confused how Carley got pregnant,” she explains in her podcast. Reid is married to her wife, Carly Grenfell, and they have a son, Kai, who they conceived through reciprocal IVF. Anna Nordqvist also reposted the same LPGA post on her story, writing, “So good @charley.hull.” The Swede and Hull have always had a warm rapport on the course, having partnered in the 2015 Solheim Cup.

So, as Charley Hull celebrates her victory, one she got after 1,077 painful days, the golf world can take inspiration from a player who’s had to suffer, scrape, but still managed to come back.