Charley Hull opened fast at the U.S. Women's Open at Riviera Country Club, then slipped back a little as her first round wore on. For one round, the golfer who has drawn nearly as much attention for cigarettes as for shotmaking was back in the spotlight for her score and for what she was, or was not, doing between shots.
That is why Hull was being searched so closely on Thursday. She went viral for smoking cigarettes at the 2024 U.S. Open, and in 2025 she took a bet that she would never smoke again. As pressure mounted at Riviera, readers were watching to see whether she had stayed true to that promise, or whether the familiar sight had returned with her to a major championship stage.
On the course, the first signs were encouraging. Hull got off to a fast start at Riviera before fading back a bit during the round, leaving the impression of a player who had grabbed the early momentum and then given some of it away. That made the round more than just another scorecard; it became another checkpoint in the story around her, because the attention on Hull was never only about the golf.
The friction came from the fact that the conversation around her has been driven by a prior viral moment. The 2024 image of Hull smoking cigs at the U.S. Open made her a recurring topic any time she appeared in a big event, and the 2025 bet sharpened the curiosity. By one round at Riviera, there was no evidence that she had broken her promise to stay away from Marlboro Lights, even as the crowd seemed ready to notice if she had.
For now, the round leaves Hull in the same place she has occupied since that viral U.S. Open moment: watched closely, talked about loudly, and judged on both her game and her habits. What comes next is whether she can turn the fast start into a full round, and whether the cigarette question finally fades behind the golf.
