You might think Charley Hull simply likes smoking. After all, she has been very open about it and was also filmed lighting up a cigarette while signing autographs at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open. She was also asked to sign a cigarette by a fan. The three-time LPGA Tour winner has since kicked the habit. But at its peak, her addiction had escalated to as many as 40 cigarettes a day. Yes, you read that correctly. Appearing on the Untapped podcast recently, Hull opened up about the difficult period in her life.

“Last year, I was on the golf course, and I was going through quite a stressful time, and I was smoking a lot,” Hull told Spencer Matthews. When asked what she meant by a lot, Charley Hull gave a startling response. “40 a day,” she answered, leaving Matthews shocked. “Because I was stressed. I was just very, very stressed at the time.”

Her habit of smoking didn’t start with cigarettes. Initially, she was prescribed Xanax by an American doctor. However, she didn’t want to take that. So, the 30-year-old decided to take up vaping. Even so, she heard about a lot of negative effects about vaping, which prompted her to change her vice. Hull thought if she went out to smoke every time, it would help her quit, but it didn’t. Although Hull didn’t elaborate on what made her anxious last year, she previously revealed how slow play on the LPGA Tour exacerbated the problem. 

“I hate smoking. I used to curse at my dad when I was younger for smoking, but I think it has to do a little bit with when I’m stressed… When it’s a slow round on the golf course, I smoke quite a few more than I should. But listen, I will stop soon. It’s just when,” said Hull during the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open.

In the same press conference, Hull also said her dad used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day. She never found smoking to be odd, but she also didn’t like smoking herself. In the recent interview, when Hull was asked whether she is the only elite athlete to smoke so many cigarettes, Hull brought up John Daly, who was even known to light up a cigarette mid-round on a golf course. 

“I don’t know,” she added. “I think John Daly smokes probably way more than that.”

This isn’t the first time Hull has distanced herself from Daly comparisons. In 2024, the Englishwoman said she found it quite funny because, unlike Daly, she hardly drinks, hits the gym every day, and will quit smoking. In the recent podcast appearance, Charley Hull reiterated how she ended up kicking the habit.

In 2025, during a round at Sunningdale Golf Club with fellow pro Ryan Evans, she made a £10,000 wager that she would never smoke again. She stuck to that bet and didn’t smoke for the next two months, saving her £10K.

In a conversation before the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah last year, she claimed: “It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” However, last year Golfweek reported that she uses a nicotine pouch but often forgets to take it and doesn’t even notice it’s not in her mouth. 

This revelation came just over a week before Charley Hull teed it up at the Evian Resort Golf Club for the Amundi Evian Championship. But even during the tournament, Hull found herself making headlines. This time for a rather unusual reason. 

Charley Hull revealed the truth behind the ice cream incident

The three-time LPGA winner had a unique opening round and a funny incident became one of the most talked-about moments in the tournament. Spoiler alert: it had nothing to do with a golf shot.

As Charley Hull charged up the leaderboard, television cameras caught her walking the course with an ice cream cone in hand. Obviously, it prompted plenty of speculation among fans. After the round, the English golfer finally explained what really happened.

“I didn’t eat the ice cream. My boyfriend got it for my caddie, so I held it for a minute when he was putting my club in the bag,” Hull told reporters.

While ice cream may not have been on her menu that day, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t thinking about food.

“I always eat every other hole. So I eat on the third, the fifth, and the seventh, and then just every hole,” she added.

The Englishwoman is currently tied for 16th after three rounds. 

Eating is definitely better than smoking. Thankfully, the addiction is well behind her as she moves forward in her pro golfing career.