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11/05 07:11 CST LPGA strikes deal to sanction Saudi-backed Aramco tournament in Las Vegas LPGA strikes deal to sanction Saudi-backed Aramco tournament in Las Vegas By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer Saudi Arabia finally has a deal with American golf under an agreement announced Wednesday for the LPGA Tour to co-sanction a PIF Global Series event at prestigious Shadow Creek in Las Vegas next spring. The Aramco Championship will be held from April 2-5 at Shadow Creek with 120 players from the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour. The $4 million purse rates among the highest outside the majors. It's the first big announcement for Craig Kessler, who took over as LPGA commissioner in July. He said the Aramco Championship "reflects exactly where we're headed in building the global schedule for our tour." "We often talk about routing, courses and purses, and this event checks every box," Kessler said. "We also recognize that partnerships like this --- built on 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." The Aramco Championship is one of five tournaments that make up the series, which the Public Investment Fund rebranded this year while raising the prize money. It dates to a team concept in 2020. What started as the Saudi Ladies Team International was renamed the Aramco Team Series and has been a regular part of the LET schedule. The Aramco series has been held in the U.S. each year, starting with Glen Oaks in New York in 2021 and twice on courses owned by President Donald Trump in New York and Florida. Nelly Korda and Alison Lee are two-time winners of Aramco events, and several LPGA players have competed in them. Charley Hull of England, who has membership on both tours, has won Aramco events twice and was runner-up five times. "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 of the LET's board of directors. PIF is the financial muscle behind LIV Golf, which launched in 2022 by luring away top names like Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka with signing bonuses reported to top $100 million in some cases. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, signed a framework agreement with the PGA Tour and European Tour in June 2023 that ended their lawsuits and positioned PIF as an investor. But that agreement was never finalized, the PGA Tour found a private equity investor in Strategic Sports Group and negotiations with PIF broke down after Trump brought together both sides shortly after he returned to office for a second term. The PIF Global Series was different as Golf Saudi invested in the Ladies European Tour with a series of events that had the largest purses on the LET, though still well short of the majors. "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," Al-Rumayyan said in a statement provided by the LPGA. "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." Kessler said while he expects some negative reaction, "I've been blown away by the support from the LPGA and LET boards." He said he has spoken to dozens of players about the Las Vegas event. "The overwhelming sentiment was, ?What took so long?'" The Aramco Championship is one of five tournaments in the PIF Global Series for 2026. The others are the PIF Saudi Ladies International on Feb. 11-14; PIF London Championship at Centurion Club outside London on Aug. 6-9; Aramco Korea Championship in South Korea on Oct. 8-11; and Aramco China Championship at Mission Hills on Nov. 5-8. The Aramco series previously has played in Spain, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong. Only the co-sanctioned event at Shadow Creek --- which has hosted the Match Play on the LPGA since 2021 --- will count toward the LPGA's official money and its Race to CME Globe. This will be the fourth co-sanctioned event between the LPGA and LET, joining two majors (Women's British Open and Evian Championship in France) and the Women's Scottish Open. ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

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