'Lighten up!' - Hull responds to caddie prank criticism during major push

Charley Hull insists she 'does not care' about criticism over her pre-major caddie prank and overcame limited sleep to remain firmly in AIG Women's Open title contention.

Hull followed an opening-round 69 with a level-par 71 on Friday morning at Royal Lytham & St Annes, mixing three birdies with as many bogeys to head into the weekend on two under and in contention in the final major of the year.

She faced scrutiny on social media after admitting pre-tournament that she tricked her caddie Adam Woodward into thinking he'd won £100,000 on a scratchcard, capturing the moment on camera after purchasing the fake ticket in a Blackpool joke shop.

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Hull insists she was unaffected by the negative comments and that her caddie embraced the 'banter', with the world No 7 now fully focused on making a weekend charge and challenging for an elusive major victory.

"I don't think people understand mine and Adsy's [Woodward, caddie] relationship," Hull said post-round. "We're very, very close. He's like a big brother to me. He is one of my best friends.

"He's always taking the mickey out of me. He thought the joke was brilliant himself - he was showing everybody about it and he was laughing hard about it. Then when you hear comments, so many people saying how bad it is, I'm like 'just lighten up'.

"I don't care if you don't get my humour - my friends get my humour and that's why they're my friends. I wouldn't do it to a random person that I knew wouldn't take it very well.

"We all know Adsy is the king of pranks. The amount of pranks he and his caddie mates are just way worse than that, and he just finds it hilarious. He's pretty chill and people need to chill out about that. Adsy is loving the attention from it!

"He texted me last night saying this has been one of the funniest weeks ever because of that prank, so people need to stop writing bad comments and stuff because they need to lighten up. If you got something bad to say about it, I don't care!"

When asked how Hull responds to negative comments, she added: "They actually make me want to do better because I think we live in a world where you can't do anything wrong these days, and then it stops people from living the life they want to.

"I don't care - I just live me. Our household has a lot of banter and are always taking the mickey out of each other. It's just the way I've been brought up, and I think people just need to be a bit more tough-skinned.

"I think you put yourself in the limelight so you would be silly to think there will not be comments like that. I think you see some people saying I really struggle from these comments and they're almost looking for sympathy.

"I'm just like 'you're in such a good position in life. There are people way worse off in life and you're moaning about what people are saying about you'. I just think grow a pair of balls and just forget about it, do you know what I mean?

"If that's the worst thing in life, people saying bad stuff about you, you really have not got life that bad."

Hull admitted she only had around three hours' sleep ahead of her second round, with the Englishman - a five-time major runner-up who has finished second twice in the last three years at this event - ready for the challenge ahead.

"Really looking forward to it," Hull said. "It's going to be loads of fun. I feel like now my nerves have settled down. My back was actually playing up for me a little bit today, a little bit sore, that's why I think I wasn't getting through the ball how I wanted to.

"Not too far going into the weekend - better than I was last year!"

Who will win the AIG Women's Open? Watch throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues Saturday from midday on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream golf and more with no contract.