With life-changing money up for grabs at this year’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International, stalwarts from the Ladies European Tour (LET) have praised the decision for the event to equal the men’s purse at the PIF Saudi International on the Asian Tour.
The LET’s finest will be competing towards US$5m at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in 2023 – a five-fold increase from 2022 which represents the biggest purse on the LET outside the major championships.
“Everyone’s goal is to try and close the gap in women’s sport, so it’s a great opportunity and I’m really proud to be a part of it,” Nicole Garcia said. “I think it’s only going to get better and better in the future.
“If we’re looking back five, six years ago, a lot of the girls had second jobs. It was really difficult for us to perform at a high level as we weren’t competing week in and week out. It’s a huge contrast to what the Tour is now. Now we can make a really good living and give that hope to young girls.
“Before there was a slight possibility, but there was only a small chance that you would make it. But now there’s a much better chance and much bigger possibility for the girls to have this as their dream which is wonderful.”
Entering its fourth edition in 2023, the winner at this year’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund will be taking home a mouth-watering $750,000. This is an increase of over $600,000 from when Georgia Hall was victorious in 2022.
“I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for us,” Laura Beveridge said. “It’s great that Aramco has decided to match the prize fund of the men’s tournament. It makes us feel extremely valued as players that we’re playing for some serious money. It’s a tremendous step forward in the women’s game.”
The historic purse means the 2023 Aramco Saudi Ladies International also boasts its strongest field to date. As well as the LET’s finest teeing up, 11 major champions are on show at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club including Lexi Thompson, In Gee Chun, and World No 1 Lydia Ko.
“It demonstrates the growth of the women’s game, and even the growth here in Europe for us LET players,” Virginia Elena Carter said. “Hopefully this will be a trend that continues moving forward.
“Obviously we want to see more tournaments like this one, we want to see more companies stepping up and really making a difference in the women’s game.”
Chloe Williams said: “We’re very very lucky. I’m very excited to play for this amount. I think it’s life-changing and hopefully, it’s going to lead to bigger and better things.”
Full tournament scoring can be found here.
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