GEORGIA Hall admitted she had been “panicking” after receiving late her MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire).

The Dorset star, who was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to golf, had been playing on the LPGA Tour before discovering the letter inviting her to accept the title.

But once it had sunk in the 23-year-old received the accolade, she insisted it had been an “amazing honour”.

Ranked 25th in the world, Hall told Sky Sports: “I was away playing in the States for a couple of weeks. My mum normally comes and collects my post.

“I think she missed that one, so it was still on the floor when I arrived. I opened it and thought ‘this isn’t a normal letter’ and it said ‘congratulations, MBE’.

“I think this was at about 11pm and it said you had to reply at a certain time. I was panicking because it was about two weeks late – so I sent it off straight away to accept it and phoned my mum and dad up.

“It was a really big surprise.”

She added: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the letter. It’s such an amazing honour and very cool to have that after my name.”