New LPGA commissioner makes bold move

While there has been no traction on a deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), the PIF found a new global golf partner Wednesday when the LPGA announced a groundbreaking new tournament backed by Golf Saudi.

The Aramco Championship will be held March 30-April 5, 2026, at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas. The tournament, which boasts a $4 million purse, is a co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour and will be part of the five-tournament PIF Global Series, which also includes stops in London, Saudi Arabia, Seoul and China. The 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,” LPGA commissioner Craig 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.”

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The LET has partnered with Golf Saudi for several years, but this is the first time the LPGA has partnered with the entity. Talk of an LPGA-PIF partnership has been discussed for years, and that talk ramped up when LIV Golf arrived on the men’s side of the game. However, the potential partnership was always viewed as controversial due to the human rights violations Saudi Arabia has been accused of, especially involving women. While players like Angela Stanford and Stacy Lewis have come out against a deal with Golf Saudi in the past, current stars Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson have competed in the PIF Series. Thompson won the 2022 event in New York.

“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,” Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of the board of Golf Saudi and governor of the PIF, said in a 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.”

Kessler, who was announced as the LPGA’s new commissioner in May, has been open about looking at every avenue to grow the women’s game by focusing on building what he calls the four pillars: trust, visibility, fans and financial future. Kessler believes that the deal with Golf Saudi will benefit them on several fronts. He told the Associated Press that he has “been blown away” by the support for the deal and that the overwhelming sentiment from players has been: “What took so long?”

Earlier this year, the LPGA lost T-Mobile as a sponsor for its match-play event held at Shadow Creek. The deal with Golf Saudi allows the Aramco Championship to fill that slot and be the third leg of the LPGA’s West Coast Swing. The 2026 Aramco Championship will take place the same week as the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, one week before the Masters.

In one groundbreaking and controversial move, Kessler already delivered something his predecessor wouldn’t and showed he’s willing to take swings to deliver on the change and growth he promised.