REPORT: Golf Saudi threatens LET events’ sponsorship withdrawal over proposed LPGA Tour merger

If any doubt remained that Golf Saudi is in the golf world to stay, its role in stopping the merger between the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the LPGA Tour might be the ultimate proof.

Golf Saudi stopped the vote for the merger between the LET and the LPGA Tour by requesting additional information on the negotiation. This request conditioned their commitment to their then-projected $10 million investment in the 2024 season.

These and other details were informed to the players of both circuits through memorandums issued by the respective commissioners, Mollie Marcoux Samaan (LPGA Tour) and Marta Figueras-Dotti (LET).

This is part of what is read in the memo (via Golfweek):

"As a significant partner of the LET, Golf Saudi wanted to ensure that they fully understood any risks, implications, and opportunities for the Aramco Saudi Ladies International and Aramco Team Series before finalizing their commitment to the events in 2024."

The LET and LPGA Tour were expected to formalize their merger at the end of the 2023 season. The support of the European Tour players was virtually unanimous and, although they were to vote officially, it was understood that the vote would be a formality. However, the vote was postponed at the last minute.

British media outlet The Telegraph published this Thursday, January 25, the following statements attributed to a "leading LET player" who preferred to remain anonymous:

“It’s funny because we all knew it [the adjournment] was connected to Golf Saudi and Aramco and the PIF, but we assumed they’d at least made some sort of offer for either us or the LPGA."

“But the reality is they obviously just threatened to pull all their events and money if the merger went ahead. So they blew the whole thing up just because they could. The one thing we don’t understand is why a LET/LPGA merger hurts whatever it is that PIF wants."

"Is it connected to the merger between them and the male Tours and PIF highlighting that it is in control? If it is, this is just another case of us, the little guys, being expendable as the billionaires play their power games."

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Why is Golf Saudi so influential in the LET?

Golf Saudi is the institution under the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, which manages the latter's investments in world golf. The PIF Governor and chairman of LIV Golf, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, is also the chairman of Golf Saudi. Golf Saudi's investments in the LET reach $10 million in 2024, as it funds the Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF and the Aramco Team Series.

According to the LET schedule, the Aramco Saudi Ladies International will be played Feb. 15-18 with a purse of $5 million. The Aramco Team Series, meanwhile, will have five events in the current season (US, South Korea, England, Asia, South Korea), each with a purse of $1 million.

Only two tournaments on the LET schedule have higher purses than the Aramco Saudi Ladies International (Amundi Evian Championship and AIG Women's Open, both majors).

Additionally, only the Women's Scottish Open and the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed have purses higher than the Aramco Team Series events, but lower than the Aramco Saudi Ladies International.