LPGA partners with Golf Saudi: New commissioner unveils Vegas event with $4 million purse
Beth Ann Nichols- The LPGA announced a new co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour, the Aramco Championship, to be held at Shadow Creek in 2026.
- This new tournament is part of a deal with Golf Saudi, a move made under new LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler.
- The Aramco Championship will feature a $4 million purse and is part of the larger PIF Global Series, which has a total purse of $15 million.
- The partnership comes amid controversy surrounding Saudi Arabia's human rights record, though many top LPGA players have participated in PIF-funded events.
LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler wasted no time delivering something his predecessor wouldn’t — a deal with Golf Saudi.
The LPGA has announced that the tour will return to Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in 2026 for the new Aramco Championship, a co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour that features a $4 million purse and a 120-player field. The event will be part of the PIF Global Series, which also includes stops in Saudi Arabia, London, Seoul and China. Purses for the five events total $15 million.
“The Aramco Championship, part of the PIF Global Series, at Shadow Creek reflects exactly where we’re headed in building the global schedule for our tour,” Kessler said in a press release. “We often talk about routing, courses and purses — and this event checks every box: a spectacular West Coast setting, an iconic course and a purse that continues our momentum in raising the bar for our athletes. We also recognize that partnerships like this — built on the LET’s longstanding collaboration with Golf Saudi and PIF — can help strengthen the women’s game on a global scale and elevate opportunities for our athletes.”
Soon after Kessler officially began his stint as the LPGA's 10th commissioner, he traveled to the PIF London Championship in August immediately after the AIG Women’s British Open, where conversations with the LET and Golf Saudi no doubt began. After last month’s Hanwha LifePlus International Crown near Seoul, he flew to Riyadh for the Future Investment Initiative (FII9). From the beginning, Kessler made it clear that he was willing to talk to anyone who wished to elevate the LPGA.
Earlier this year, the LPGA lost T-Mobile as the title sponsor of the tour's only match play event, held at Shadow Creek. The new Aramco tournament is stroke play and will be the third leg of a West Coast swing that includes the new Fortinet Founders Cup in Silicon Valley and the Ford Championship in Arizona.
The fact that the Aramco event will be opposite the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on April 2-5 and ahead of the Masters might prove to be somewhat beneficial to the tour as PIF events remain controversial, given the wide-ranging human rights abuses Saudi Arabia has been accused of, especially toward women.
There was a time when many feared that a LIV women's tour would mark the end of the LPGA. Talk of a new tour, however, has died down considerably in recent years. While retired LPGA stars have spoken out about any potential relationship with Golf Saudi in years past, only a handful of current players were willing to take a stand.
LPGA players have, instead, been overwhelmingly in favor of finding opportunities. Most LPGA stars have been playing and winning various PIF events around the globe, including Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Charley Hull and Lexi Thompson.
“Women’s golf continues to go from strength to strength, and PIF has a strong track record of backing that growth and investing in the future of the women’s game,” said H.E. Yasir Al Rumayyan, Chairman of the Board, Golf Saudi and Governor of the PIF in a provided statement.
“Today’s announcement marks another significant milestone as we work closely with great partners at the LPGA and LET to introduce a co-sanctioned event as part of next year’s PIF Global Series. The future of women’s golf has never been brighter, on and off the course.”
For the LET, Golf Saudi has been the lifeblood of the organization since 2020. Aramco’s new partnership with the LPGA can only help to strengthen things for the LET, which would be gutted without the PIF Global Series.
At the end of the 2023 season, LET players gathered to vote on a potential merger between the LPGA and LET. But the meeting abruptly adjourned without a vote after the Saudis made a last-minute request for more information before committing the funds for the 2024 PIF series.
The vote never happened, but the two tours remained intertwined via a joint venture partnership that former commissioner Mike Whan spearheaded at the end of 2019. Under the LPGA’s current leadership, it’s clear that the mission is to find a way to work together.
“We’ve had a strong relationship with Golf Saudi since 2020, and this next chapter — welcoming the LPGA to join us at Shadow Creek — highlights how far we’ve come in strengthening the global platform for women’s golf,” Marta Figueras-Dotti, the chair of LET Ltd.'s board of directors, said in a release. “The Aramco Championship, which forms part of the PIF Global Series, will be a powerful example of collaboration and shared vision between our tours.”
The PIF Global Series has hosted an event on U.S. soil for several years, although it was only sanctioned by the LET. Thompson won an Aramco Team Series event in 2022 in New York. This year’s stop was held in Houston. Next year’s Aramco Korea Championship will be held at the same course that recently hosted the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown.
The 2026 PIF Global Series now includes the following:
- Feb. 11-14: PIF Saudi Ladies International, Riyadh Golf Club, Saudi Arabia ($5 million purse)
- April 2-5: Aramco Championship, Shadow Creek Golf Club, Las Vegas ($4 million purse)
- Aug. 6-9: PIF London Championship, Centurion Club, London ($2 million purse)
- Oct. 8-11: Aramco Korea Championship, New Korea Country Club, Seoul ($2 million purse)
- Nov. 5-8, Aramco China Championship, Mission Hills China, Shenzhen, China ($2 million purse)