The 2023 Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund is now in the history books as World No 1 Lydia Ko regained her Ladies European Tour (LET) title at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
Returning for a fourth time with a record-breaking prize fund, the tournament produced some incredible storylines as it went right down to the wire. Here are a few takeaways after an eventful four days in Saudi Arabia…
Big Names Deliver
A star-studded field ascended on Royal Greens Golf & Country Club for the fourth edition of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, and once again the big names delivered.
While Ko took the headlines come the end of Sunday, Charley Hull, Gaby Lopez, Nasa Hataoka, Georgia Hall, Emily Kristine Pedersen and Lexi Thompson were all in the mix throughout as the tournament more than lived up to the billing.
Aditi’s Hot Streak Continues
Make no mistake about it, Aditi Ashok is in the form of her life. Fresh off a victory at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open and a third-place finish at the Lalla Meryem Cup, the Indian’s hot streak continued in Saudi Arabia as she carded rounds of 65-66-69-68 to take Ko all the way and finish second.
In the 11 rounds she has played in 2023, Ashok now has an aggregate score of -39, a run which sees her lead the 2023 Race to Costa Del Sol by 710 points after three events.
Life-Changing Cheques
There was historic money up for grabs at the 2023 Aramco Saudi Ladies International as the LET’s finest competed for the same $5 million purse that the men did two weeks prior at the Saudi International.
Among the LET core cashing in on well deserved paydays were Ashok, who won €420,831.00 for finishing second, Manon De Roey, who collected €219,767.30 for finishing T3, Cara Gainer, who earned €83,581.71 for a 14th placed finish, and Alice Hewson, who won €73,411.63 for placing T18.
Swiss Bliss
After earning her full LET card at Q-School in December, and finishing fourth in her first event of 2023, Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela continued where she left off in Morocco with another solid display.
After holing out for eagle on the very first hole, the 25-year-old led the rookie charge as rounds of 68-66-71-69 saw her finish T9 and complete another excellent week.
Lee-Anne The Pacemaker
The calm winds on the weekend meant a string of low scores were posted at Royal Greens Golf & Club. Leading the way with early birdie fests on days three and four was South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, who carded rounds of 67 and 68 to soar up the leaderboard and finish T14.
With the South African swing next up on the LET, the three-time Investec South African Women’s Open champion is now perfectly poised to win big in her homeland again.
Relive all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #AramcoSaudiLadiesIntl.
