By Frank Dalleres
A major champion and two-time European order of merit winner by her early twenties, Georgia Hall has already ticked a lot of boxes in her young career.
Over the coming weeks she hopes to reach a new milestone: a first multiple title-winning year. Having claimed the Saudi Ladies International in March, Hall will aim for a second victory of 2022 at the same course in this week’s Aramco Team Series Jeddah before heading to the US for the finale to the LPGA Tour season, the CME Group Tour Championship.
Success at either big-money event would crown a fine year for the 26-year-old from Dorset, who has been a regular presence at the top of leaderboards and achieved career-best finishes in the three majors staged in the US.
“It’s been my most consistent year yet,” Hall tells City A.M. “I’ve had a few goes in contention, which always means a lot to me, I’ve done pretty well in the majors, especially in America, and I’ve been much more consistent there, which has been one of my goals this year.
“I’ve just played really really solid golf, so I’m really happy with my season. Obviously it would be great to finish with another win. But all in all it’s been a really good year for me and I think it’s going strong into next year as well.
“It would mean a lot [to win again in 2022]. Another box ticked. Obviously focusing on world ranking as well, getting lower.
“It was quite nice for me to win early this season; all my wins have come August-September time. I tend to have a much stronger second half of the year for some reason. Winning early in the season by as many as I did was important and that’s helped create a very strong second half of the year.”
Hall has every reason to feel confident about teeing off on Thursday back at Royal Greens, where she romped home by five shots in the Saudi Ladies International.
The Middle East has consistently brought out strong performances from the 2018 British Open champion, which she puts down to the quality of the setups and the chance to test herself in breezy conditions.
“I think the courses suit me. A lot of desert around and normally it can get fairly windy. A lot of these golf courses are in really good condition which brings out the slightly better putters as well,” Hall says.
“I really like [Royal Greens], I think it suits me really well. I can reach pretty much every par five, which seems to be the strongest part of my game – long irons in. So for me it sets up a lot of eagle opportunities.
“Most importantly it gives me a lot of confidence, like other events I’ve done well in in the past. I feel like I don’t have a massive weakness to my game, but also the wind and weather come into it where I feel a bit more comfortable. We get treated really well at that event, and I just really enjoy the week, so it helps with playing good golf.”
On top of that, she has performed well in all her previous appearances atAramco Team Series events, just missing out to fellow Englishwoman Bronte Law in London earlier this year and never finishing worse than seventh in four outings.
Part of Europe’s Solheim Cup wins in 2019 and 2021, Hall says she enjoys the switch from 72-hole strokeplay to the series’ simultaneous team and individual competitions.
“It’s really nice to play in a different format. It’s really fun picking your team and seeing who else you get drawn with. It makes it different and more interesting and I’ve really enjoyed taking part when I can,” she adds.
“Obviously it’s not match play so it doesn’t really remind me of Solheim, but I really love team events. You play stroke play all the time so it’s really nice to change it up and to be playing not only for yourself but for other people makes it fun.”
The Aramco Team Series has injected an additional $5m in prize money to the Ladies European Tour each year, providing much-needed financial security to the circuit post-pandemic.
It is just the latest development in the growth of women’s golf and women’s sport more generally, which Hall believes will continue to thrive.
“What Aramco has done for the LET has been absolutely phenomenal. I’ve spoken to a lot of girls on the tour and they say how much they enjoy the events and how much it has helped the tour,” she says.
“Hopefully we continue to have events like this and it shows other sponsors to raise their level and support the tour going forward. Women’s sport is in one of the strongest positions it has ever been in and I think that will continue.”
Hall puts her strong season down to an even more cool-headed approach on the course and a stricter fitness regime that has allowed her to perform well even when playing for several weeks without a break.
“I feel like I’ve strengthened parts of my game that were slightly weaker last year,” she says.
“I’ve always been someone who doesn’t stress on the course but I think I’ve brought it to another level where I’m literally focusing like it’s a practice round. They say practise like you play and play like you practise – I try to be a bit more intense when I practise and then when I play I feel like I’ve done the hard work to go and produce on the course.
“Also my fitness this year, I’ve really tried to incorporate that more in my weeks off, getting a bit stronger. By the fourth or fifth week [of tournaments in a row] normally mentally I tire a bit, but this year I’ve been able to keep going, so I think the physical side of things has really helped to allow my body to carry on. That’s probably been one of the main factors this year why I’ve been more consistent.”
However she fares in Saudi Arabia this week, Hall is also hoping to challenge in Florida next week at the CME Group Tour Championship.
She was tied for seventh two years ago at the lucrative event, which will this time pay the winner an LPGA Tour record $2m from a prize fund of $7m.
Beyond that, Hall has set herself the targets for 2023 of adding a second major – this time in the US – and climbing from her current world ranking into the very top echelons.
“I’ve had some good finishes there and I think that golf course suits me well so I’d love to try and finish [the year] on a high there,” she adds. “My game’s in a good place that I feel also that would be really good to see if I can take the trophy there or come as close as possible.
“I’d definitely love to win a major in America and to be in the world top 10. That’s my goal for next year for sure. If my world ranking gets better it means I’m contending a lot more.”
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