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Charley Hull got a taste of viral fame earlier this year after her affinity for cigarettes took the internet by storm, and her inability to smoke a dart may have played a role in the incredibly shaky start she got off to at the Olympics on Wednesday.
There was once a time when plenty of professional athletes didn’t think twice about treating themselves to a cigarette while competing, but they’re a fairly endangered species in a day and age where the well-documented downsides of that particular habit mean you probably want to avoid it if you play a sport for a living.
John Daly’s penchant for ripping heaters on the golf course is one of the reasons he’s such a beloved figure, and in May, plenty of people drew parallels between him and Charley Hull after the 28-year-old with a couple of LPGA Tour victories under her belt was filmed signing autographs for fans with a cig planted in her mouth.
.@HullCharley making John Daly proud. 😂 pic.twitter.com/hmp7EaiKRr
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 28, 2024
Hull (who apparently switched to cigarettes in an attempt to curb her vaping habit) has been a good sport about the flurry of attention she subsequently found herself dealing with, but it’s safe to assume she’d probably prefer to be known for her performance on the course.
The Englishwoman earned the right to represent Great Britain at the Olympics in Paris this year, and while you might think the French wouldn’t really care about people smoking on the golf course, all Olympic venues—including Le Golf National—have been designated as non-smoking areas.
According to The Guardian, Hull admitted the ban could have an impact on her game during a press conference on Tuesday, saying:
“I do smoke on the course. It’s a habit but I won’t do it this week. I think it will [affect me] because it relaxes me a little bit.”
Those fears were unfortunately realized based on what unfolded when Hull kicked off her opening round at the Olympics on Wednesday, as she hooked her tee shot on the first hole into the water before finishing with a double bogey.
Things didn’t get much better from there, as she tallied seven bogeys over the course of a round where she finished at +9 while essentially quashing any possibility of ending up on the podium.