Saudi Arabia has finally reached an agreement with America Golf to co-sanction a PIF Global Series event at Las Vegas’ prestigious Shadow Creek next spring, announced by the LPGA Tour on Wednesday.
The Aramco Championship will be held at Shadow Creek from April 2nd to 5th with 120 players from the LPGA and European Women’s Tours participating. His $4 million purse is the highest of any player outside the majors.
This is the first major announcement for Craig Kessler, who took over as LPGA Commissioner in July. He said the Aramco Championship “reflects exactly where we are heading in building the tour’s global schedule.”
“We often talk about routes, courses and wallets, and this event checks all the boxes,” Kessler said. “We also recognize that partnerships such as this, built on LET’s long-standing collaboration with Golf Saudi and PIF, will help strengthen the women’s game and enhance opportunities for athletes globally.”
The Aramco Championship is one of five tournaments that make up the series, which the Public Investment Fund rebranded this year while increasing prize money.
It goes back to the 2020 team concept. The team, which began as the Saudi Ladies Team International, was renamed the Aramco Team Series and became a regular part of the LET schedule.
The Aramco Series is held annually in the United States, starting with New York’s Glen Oaks in 2021 and twice at courses owned by President Donald Trump in New York and Florida.
Nelly Korda and Alison Lee have won Aramco events twice, and several LPGA players have also competed in Aramco events. Britain’s Charlie Hull, a member of both tours, has won two Aramco events and finished runner-up five times.
“We have built a strong relationship with Golf Saudi since 2020, and this next chapter in welcoming the LPGA to Shadow Creek highlights how far we have come in strengthening the global platform for women’s golf,” said Marta Figueras-Dotti, Chair of the LET Board of Directors.
PIF is the financial power behind LIV Golf, which was launched in 2022 and has poached top names such as Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepka, with contract bonuses reportedly exceeding $100 million in some cases.
In June 2023, PIF President Yasir Al Rumayyan concluded a framework agreement with the PGA Tour and European Tour, ending the litigation and positioning PIF as an investor.
However, that agreement ultimately fell through, and negotiations with PIF collapsed after the PGA Tour found a private equity investor in Strategic Sports Group and brought the two sides together shortly after President Trump was re-elected for a second term.
The PIF Global Series was different, as Golf Saudi invested in the Women’s European Tour with a series of events that raised the most money on the LET, but still fell short of the majors.
“Women’s golf is going from strength to strength, and PIF has a strong track record of supporting that growth and investing in the future of women’s golf,” Al Rumayyan said in a statement provided by the LPGA.
“Today’s announcement marks another important milestone as we work closely with our 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, on and off the course, has never been brighter.”
Kessler said he expected some negative reaction, but was “amazed by the support from the LPGA and LET Board of Directors.” He said he has spoken to dozens of athletes about the Las Vegas tournament. “The overwhelming feeling was, ‘What took so long?'”
The Aramco Championship is one of five tournaments in the 2026 PIF Global Series. The other tournament is the PIF Saudi Ladies International from February 11-14. The PIF London Championships will be held at the Centurion Club on the outskirts of London from August 6th to 9th. The Aramco Korea Championship will be held in South Korea from October 8th to 11th. and the Aramco China Championship to be held at Mission Hills from November 5th to 8th.
The Aramco Series has previously been held in Spain, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Only co-sanctioned events at Shadow Creek, which has hosted LPGA match play since 2021, will count toward official LPGA funding and races to CME Grove.
This will be the fourth tournament jointly sanctioned by the LPGA and LET, joining two majors (The Women’s British Open and France’s Evian Championship) and the Women’s Scottish Open.
