Charley Hull is savoring the chance to mount a late‑season charge for a major championship after delivering an impressive third‑round rally at the AIG Women’s Open. The world‑number‑seven entered the round just five strokes off the leader at Royal Lytham & St Annes, but an early string of three bogeys in her first six holes saw her slip to ten strokes behind the overnight leader, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu, who had opened the day strongly and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field.

Undeterred, Hull found her rhythm on the back‑nine, stringing together two consecutive birdies beginning at the seventh hole. A brief setback arrived at the tenth when she dropped another bogey, yet the gap began to close when Ryu, playing several groups behind, faltered with five bogeys over an eight‑hole stretch. This shift in momentum allowed Hull to tighten the scoreboard. The English contender finished the round with a series of solid pars, punctuated by birdies on the 15th and a resilient scramble at the 17th.

She capped the day with a par on the final hole, posting a level‑par 71 that left her just five strokes shy of Yealimi Noh as the tournament headed into its decisive final round. "I’m pretty proud because in the first six holes I played like a 10‑handicapper," Hull told Sky Sports. "I missed three putts I should have holed from five feet, which would have kept me at even par instead of three over." She continued, "I managed to bounce back and hit a great shot on the last hole.

The line was perfect and I left it short, but I was really happy with how I finished." Hull admitted that keeping track of the leaderboard was challenging on a course with relatively few players visible at any given time. "I was glancing at the leaderboards – to be fair, there aren’t many out on the course, so it’s hard to know exactly where you stand.

I like to sneak a look when I can," she added. Hull’s résumé includes five runner‑up finishes in major championships, two of which have come at this very tournament over the past three years, as well as a second‑place finish at the U.S.

Women’s Open in June. At 30, she hopes to convert those near‑misses into a breakthrough victory, drawing confidence from her past experiences. "I just want to go out there and enjoy it tomorrow, not put too much pressure on myself," Hull said. "Go out there, have fun and trust my swing." A win would make Hull the first British woman to capture a major title since Georgia Hall triumphed at Royal Lytham in 2018, and would follow Catriona Matthew’s 2009 major success at the same venue.

Fellow competitor Lottie Woad, who has recorded top‑10 finishes in both of her previous AIG Women’s Open appearances, is also positioned close to the lead as she pursues her own home‑country victory. Woad entered the final day after a disappointing second‑round finish, rebounding with a one‑under 70 that featured three birdies and two bogeys, leaving her three strokes under par overall.

"It’s a good position to be in," Woad told Sky Sports. "I should be a few strokes back by the end of today.

I’ll stick to my game plan and see what happens." She noted that the course played tougher than expected, with wind conditions reaching their strongest levels of the tournament. "The back nine was definitely a grind, but I felt a bit better on the greens today and scrambled well to stay in contention," Woad explained.

"On this course you have to attack the front nine, which is downwind. I started with level par, which wasn’t ideal, but I knew there would be chances on the back nine.

Much of it is just par golf." The final round will determine who lifts the AIG Women’s Open trophy. Viewers can watch the decisive Sunday showdown live from midday on Sky Sports Golf, or stream the event through Sky Sports without a contract. The tournament promises high drama as Hull, Woad, Noh, and other contenders vie for the coveted major title, each hoping to etch their names into the storied history of Royal Lytham & St Annes.