Charley Hull opened the U.S. Women's Open at Riviera Country Club with a quick burst of birdieable holes but slipped back as the round progressed, leaving her first-day score a study in early momentum that was not sustained.
The immediate impression was simple: Hull looked sharp in the opening stretch and then cooled. That pattern—an electric start followed by a softer finish—defined her posture on a day when early scoring chances were plentiful and the course tightened up later in the afternoon.
The clearest takeaway after one round is that Hull showed the form to be in contention but did not convert the opening speed into a steady push across 18 holes. Her start put her within reach of the early leaders; her finish pushed her toward the middle of the pack rather than up the leaderboard, making the second round decisive for whether this week becomes a run at the title or a routine defence of parity.
Hull’s on-course swings landed alongside another storyline that clipped the headlines last year: she went viral for smoking cigarettes at the 2024 U.S. Open. In 2025 she took a public bet that she would never smoke again. Through one round at Riviera there was no evidence that she had broken that promise to stay away from the Marlboro Lights.
The golf and the off-course moment are not the same thing, but they interact in how the day was read. An impressive opening stretch invited curiosity; a late fade dulled it. Observers will watch both the scorecard and the behavior that became part of Hull’s profile during the 2024 season, because the two threads combine to shape attention on a player whose weeks often attract more than routine scrutiny.
What matters next is straightforward. Hull can still turn the opening burst into a tournament-defining run, but she must produce a steadier middle and finish to climb the leaderboard at Riviera. The available evidence covers only round one; the second tee shot will tell whether she tightens her close and whether the on-course narrative remains about golf rather than headlines from the past.
