CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — The Solheim Cup doesn't officially start for another three days, but there's already been a stir about Charley Hull. When Hull turned up late for her practice round on Tuesday at Bernardus Golf, she mentioned something about drinks the night before as she walked off the tee box. Once the video went up on Sky Sports, the story started to take off.
Vice captain Mel Reid was quick to set the record straight during a press conference later that afternoon.
"Charley Hull was the first one to bed last night at 8 o'clock, and first one on the bus this morning," said Reid. "She doesn't even drink, so that's a completely false story it's been misquoted. She was late to the tee because I was responsible for her, so I'll take a little
bit of responsibility to that."
Reid went on to say that it's always tough trying to drag Hull off the practice tee, and Hull was off five minutes on her tee time as well.
The first tee this week is actually on what's usually the third hole at Bernardus Golf, making it a longer trek than usual from the practice facility.
European captain Anna Nordqvist noted Hull didn't arrive in The Netherlands until Monday evening. Members of the European team arrived on different days, and it was decided that for Hull, a little extra time in England was the best prep.
"I've been part of basically every single team that Charley's been on," said Nordqvist, "and I will say it's been really nice to see how much Charley is starting to embrace the whole Solheim atmosphere."
Earlier this year during the Masters, Hull sat down with Kira K. Dixon for Augusta National’s “Under the Umbrellas” series. During the interview, Hull told Dixon that her podcast host, Reid, is her all-time favorite Solheim Cup partner. She also said while she loves the biennial competition, going from an individual sport to a team one every two years isn’t easy for her.
“I am a very individual player,” Hull explained. “I'm going to openly say this, like, I'm not a team player. Like, I'm not. So it's very hard for me to be in a team environment. I like to eat when I want to eat. I like to go to sleep when I want to go to sleep. I like to rock up to a practice session and go the golf course when I want to.
"But getting on that team bus every morning, it is a pretty cool atmosphere. And, like, it takes a little while to get used to, but it's just once every two years, and it is very enjoyable.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Mel Reid sets record straight on why Charley Hull was late to Solheim tee
