Lexi Thompson headlines subsequent week’s Aramco Saudi Women Worldwide subject on the Women European Tour. The occasion, held this yr at Riyadh Golf Membership Feb. 15-18, gives a handbag of $5 million, the identical because the payout of the boys’s PIF Saudi Worldwide.
The 28-year-old Thompson, whose final worldwide victory got here on the 2022 Aramco Staff Sequence occasion in New York, final teed it up on the LPGA Drive On occasion in January the place she tied for sixteenth. She shouldn’t be listed within the fields of the LPGA’s upcoming Asian swing.
“The Aramco Saudi Women Worldwide signifies a big step ahead in advancing the game,” Thompson stated in a launch, “not simply in Saudi Arabia however on a world scale, and it’s a privilege to be a part of an occasion that advocates for equal prize funds in golf.”
Defending champion Lydia Ko, who received the LPGA season-opening Event of Champions and misplaced the Drive On in a playoff to Nelly Korda, shouldn’t be within the subject in Saudi Arabia. Ko’s subsequent occasion would be the HSBC Ladies’s Champions in Singapore.
Korda, who went to Prague instantly after the Drive On to go to her grandparents, is within the midst of a seven-week break from aggressive golf.
Along with the Aramco Saudi Women Worldwide, the 2024 LET schedule additionally options the Aramco Staff Sequence, comprised of 5 occasions staged throughout the globe. Winners of these occasions final yr embody LPGA gamers Alison Lee, Xiyu Lin, Carlota Ciganda, Pauline Roussin, and Korda.
The LET’s Saudi-backed occasions stay controversial given the wide-ranging human rights abuses Saudi Arabia has been accused of, particularly towards ladies.
Right here’s an inventory of noteworthy gamers on this yr’s subject:
Georgia Corridor of England performs her shot from the fifth tee throughout the first spherical of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Nation Membership on January 25, 2024 in Bradenton, Florida. (Picture by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Photos)
Linn Grant of Sweden walks on the second gap throughout the second spherical of the Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Nation Membership on January 19, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Picture by Julio Aguilar/Getty Photos)
Lexi Thompson heads the sphere at Aramco Saudi Women Worldwide Introduced by PIF (event courtesy picture)
Charley Hull of England prepares to play her shot on the sixteenth gap throughout the remaining spherical of the Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Nation Membership on January 21, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Picture by Julio Aguilar/Getty Photos)
Carlota Ciganda of Staff Europe celebrates after sinking a birdie on the seventeenth inexperienced and securing the Solheim Cup win for Staff Europe throughout Day Three of The Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin Golf Membership on September 24, 2023 in Casares, Spain. (Picture by Angel Martinez/Getty Photos)
Leona Maguire of Staff Europe reacts to chipping in on the 18th gap throughout Day Certainly one of The Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin Golf Membership on September 22, 2023 in Casares, Spain. (Picture by Stuart Franklin/Getty Photos)
Chiara Noja. (Picture supplied)
Gabriela Ruffels of Australia watches her tee shot on the thirteenth tee throughout the second spherical of the Kroger Queen Metropolis Championship introduced by P&G at Kenwood Nation Membership on September 08, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Picture by Dylan Buell/Getty Photos)
Alexa Pano of the USA performs her shot from the sixteenth tee throughout the remaining spherical of the Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Nation Membership on January 21, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Picture by Julio Aguilar/Getty Photos)
Jiyai Shin of South Korea appears on throughout the Day Three of the AIG Ladies’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Membership on August 12, 2023 in Tadworth, England. (Picture by Luke Walker/Getty Photos for HSBC)
Trichat Cheenglab of Thailand checks the wind route on the second tee throughout Day Two of the Volvo Automotive Scandinavian Combined at Ullna Golf & Nation Membership on June 09, 2023 in Sweden. (Picture by Matthew Lewis/Getty Photos)
Amy Yang of Korea poses with the CME Globe trophy after profitable the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Membership on November 19, 2023 in Naples, Florida. (Picture by Michael Reaves/Getty Photos)
Grace Kim of Australia reacts on the third tee throughout the first spherical of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Membership on November 16, 2023 in Naples, Florida. (Picture by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Photos)
Patty Tavatanakit on the tee field on the ninth gap throughout the second spherical of the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Membership in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Picture: Stuart Franklin/Getty Photos)
Ayaka Furue of Japan performs her shot from the sixteenth tee throughout the remaining spherical of the Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Nation Membership on January 21, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Picture by Julio Aguilar/Getty Photos)
Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand performs her shot from the fifteenth tee throughout the second spherical of the 78th U.S. Ladies’s Open at Pebble Seaside Golf Hyperlinks on July 07, 2023 in Pebble Seaside, California. (Picture by Ezra Shaw/Getty Photos)
Maria Fassi of Mexico performs her shot from the third tee throughout the second spherical of The ANNIKA pushed by Gainbridge at Pelican at Pelican Golf Membership on November 10, 2023 in Belleair, Florida. (Picture by Julio Aguilar/Getty Photos)
Japan’s Yuka Saso competes throughout the Evian Championship, a ladies’s LPGA main golf event in Evian-les-Bains, French Alps, on July 29, 2023. (Picture by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Picture by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP by way of Getty Photos)