With the end of season now in sight on the Ladies European Tour (LET), this week the circuit is in Riyadh for the fifth and final Aramco Team Series presented by PIF event of 2023.
Staged at Riyadh Golf Club for the first time, 84 players from 24 nations will tee up vying for their share of USD $1,000,000 in both the Team and Individual competitions.
Before play gets underway in Saudi Arabia, here are six storylines to look out for…
Solheim stars set for action
One month on from their historic retention of the Solheim Cup in Spain, four stars from Suzann Pettersen’s arsenal are in town looking to add further success to their 2023 seasons.
Still on a high after earning the all-important point for Team Europe at Finca Cortesin, Carlota Ciganda will be in action aiming for a second Aramco Team Series title following her Florida triumph in May.
Joining the Spanish heroine are the English duo of Charley Hull and Georgia Hall – the latter chasing more silverware in the Kingdom after winning the Aramco Saudi Ladies International in 2022.
Completing the European line-up is Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, while Major winner Lilia Vu adds further Solheim star power to the field teeing up for the second Aramco Team Series event in a row.
Lee hot in form
Another world-class player competing this week is Australia’s Minjee Lee. The two-time Major winner arrives in Riyadh in incredible form having just claimed her tenth LPGA title at the BMW Ladies Championship.
The World No 4 has prior ATS experience finishing 11th in London two years ago and returns for tournament two at no better time after defeating Alison Lee in a playoff last week.
Talking of her namesake, the American Lee is also teeing up this week and will be hoping to go one better after falling agonisingly short in South Korea two days ago.
A regular feature in the Aramco Team Series, Lee has featured in six events winning the Sotogrande Individual title in 2021.
Battle on the bubble
With just three events left of the season, this week is a crucial one for many stars trying to play their way into the last two tournaments of 2023 and affirm their full LET card for next year.
Both the Mallorca Ladies Open and Andalucía Costa del Sol Open De España involve the top 64 in the Race to Costa del Sol (as well as eight invites), with the top-70 in the standings earning Category 4 status for 2024.
This means those competing in Riyadh who are currently outside the bubble face a potentially make or break week if they are to compete in Spain next month and cement their full status.
Those in question facing big battles include Leonie Harm (70th), Laura Beveridge (72nd), Sanna Nuutinen (74th), Elin Arvidsson (77th), Linnea Johansson (78th), Maggie Simmermacher (79th), Marianne Skarpnord (92nd), Michele Thomson (101st) and Becky Brewerton (117th).
Dagar on the brink
As the Race to Costa del Sol heats up, it looks like this could be the week France’s Celine Boutier finally gets knocked off top spot with India’s Diksha Dagar on the brink of moving into the highly sought-after position.
Fresh off a third-place finish on home soil at the Hero Women’s Indian Open, the left-hander has now leapfrogged Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson and sits just 78.27 points off the Major winner who is absent this week.
A ninth-place finish or better would do the job for Dagar in Riyadh, while Gustavsson can also jump into top spot if Dagar fails to do so and she finishes inside the top three.
Teenage kicks
It was one year ago that German teenager Chiara Noja announced herself to the golfing world defeating her hero Charley Hull in a playoff to win the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Jeddah Individual event.
Now back in Saudi Arabia 12 months on, and having recently returned to action after an injury spell, the 17-year-old will no doubt be feeling nostalgic as she aims to put on a performance in the tournament where she claimed a historic maiden LET title.
Unique format
Once again the format is the same as other ATS events with the Individual and Team competitions being played simultaneously. The Team competition will be played over 36-holes over the first two days with the best two scores counting, while the Individual is a 54-hole stroke play competition with the last round just having the top-60 professionals and ties competing.
There are 84 professionals teeing it up this week and there will be 28 teams contending for the top prize. Each team will consist of three professionals and one amateur with the captains decided based upon the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on Monday 16th October. The draft will take place on Thursday and will see captains pick in reverse order of ranking.
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