New LPGA Commissioner Strikes a Deal With Golf Saudi—Here's What it Means

Since 2021, the involvement of the PIF and Golf Saudi in men's golf, aka the establishment of LIV Golf, has been a hot topic of conversation in our sport. Often sparking questions if something like that could, or would happen in women's golf—but quiet as kept, they've been involved in women's golf an entire year prior.

In 2020, the Ladies European Tour (LET) and Golf Saudi began their partnership creating events called the Aramco Series—which are a series of events carried out on different continents with a unique team format where professionals are matched up with amateur golfers to compete for $1 million prize funds. Additionally, there is an individual title the pros compete for.

This has been the backbone of the LET for the last few years, helping increase the overall prize purse for these athletes, providing nearly a third of the tour's prize fund. The entire LET saw its total prize money reach roughly $39 million in 2024 compared to around $18 million in 2020, before the partnership.

It's hard to ignore that these Saudi-backed events are helping draw in more money, and LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler is paying attention to exactly that.

This week, the LPGA and LET announced a co-sanctioned event, the Aramco Championship, in partnership with Golf Saudi at the famed Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.

Just a couple of months ago, news broke that Shadow Creek wouldn't be on the 2026 LPGA schedule, which previously hosted the T-Mobile Match Play, the only match play event on the Tour's schedule, which would have been a huge loss. Players love that event, and the venue lends itself to its popularity.

But that has been quickly rectified. The championship is set to be contested the week of March 30–April 5, 2026, and will feature a 120-player field competing for a $4 million purse in a 72-hole stroke-play format.

This championship marks the first time the LPGA will co-sanction an event within the series, and officially partnering with Golf Saudi—something former commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan was criticized for not doing or working to do so.

"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," said Kessler in the official announcement.

"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."

It's been reported that Kessler traveled to the PIF London Championship in August immediately after the AIG Women’s British Open and to Riyadh just a couple weeks ago after the International Crown in Korea for the Future Investment Initiative—hinting that this has been something in the works quickly after Kessler began his term as commish. (His official start date was July 15 of this year.)

The LET is the real winner of this situation, securing a partnership with its biggest allies. "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," said Marta Figueras-Dotti, Chair, LET Ltd. Board of Directors.

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It's highly likely that this event with draw in some, if not most of, the best players in the world. The likes of Jeeno Thitikul, Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, and Charley Hull have all competed in Aramco events before and have gone as far as praising them.

World No. 1 Thitikul who won the Aramco Saudi Ladies International in February told Sports Illustrated earlier this year, "All the things that LPGA, LET, Golf Saudi have been into golf, it’s helped. I think they’re trying to get women’s golf like bigger and bigger, elevating them to a top level. And then it’s pretty good news to be honest to me, because it’s like [getting] more [chances] for everyone to play a really good golf course in really good events."

Despite the controversy surrounding Golf Saudi, the future of women's golf will welcome the the support as it pertains to global and financial growth—with all eyes on this major step in Vegas come spring.