Charley Hull opened the 2026 Maybank Championship on 29 October with a six-under-par 66 on the West Course at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. Seven birdies and one bogey left the English player tied for fourth with France's Perrine Delacour. She was two strokes behind first-round leader Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who posted 64 (−8).
Four weeks off the tournament schedule, not four weeks off work
Speaking to the LPGA after her round, Hull explained why she chose to return to competition in Kuala Lumpur. She had considered extending her time without tournament starts to about six weeks, but wanted to play golf again. The four weeks she had already spent at home were far from an uninterrupted vacation: sponsor engagements filled much of that period.
Her remarks offer a useful distinction between time away from competition and actual downtime. Hull did not claim that a particular practice routine caused her opening score, or that she had spent the entire break resting.
A precise opening round
Her first-round statistics were strong: 12 of 14 fairways hit and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. Seven birdies minus a single bogey account for the six-under total. Two birdies over her final three holes helped her finish in the leading group. This is a round score in strokes relative to par, not a points-based tally.
Hull also said she appreciates morning tee times in Malaysia because they leave the humid afternoons available for recovery. She described her game as being in a good position approaching the season's final events, while acknowledging that the past few weeks had remained busy with commitments away from competition.
The second round
The LPGA listed Hull for a 9:16 a.m. local start on Friday, 30 October, alongside Delacour and Julia Lopez Ramirez. She begins the day two shots off the lead; nothing about the eventual result has yet been determined. This report draws on the LPGA's official 29 October 2026 post-round account and tournament statistics. The accompanying archive photograph is not from the 2026 Maybank Championship.
