The Aramco Championship tees off Thursday at Shadow Creek Golf Course with a 120-player field that includes every golfer in the world’s top 20. It marks the first time since 2017 that a non-major, non-CME Group Tour Championship event has drawn the entire elite group.
The tournament, part of the Saudi-backed PIF Global Series, carries a $4 million purse — one of the largest on the LPGA Tour outside of majors. It replaces the match-play event that had been held at Shadow Creek since 2021, switching to a 72-hole stroke-play format.
“I think obviously the mindset of match play and stroke play is a little bit different. You could be a bit more aggressive playing match play whenever the course allowed,” said world No. 5 Minjee Lee of Australia. “But I think it’s good that we get to play stroke play. It was good either way, but I think I would enjoy the tournament more as a stroke-play format.”
Players accustomed to the previous match-play structure now face firm greens and expected gusty winds, which could make birdies scarce. World No. 8 Hannah Green of Australia noted the mental adjustment required. “It’s going to be quite difficult to go from being perhaps more aggressive to then actually hitting in the middle of the green and having par as a good score instead of being aggressive,” she said. “I think actually being fully committed to the shot you’re going to hit and, I guess, mentally preparing to hit a good shot and it not being rewarded is going to be quite tough. It’s going to be a mental and physical battle.”
Green enters on a three-tournament winning streak, having captured the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, the women’s Australian Open, and the Australian WPGA Championship. She tees off at 8:17 a.m. alongside world No. 7 Lydia Ko of New Zealand and South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, winner of last week’s event in Phoenix.
“I think the putter has probably been very hot the last three weeks. But I also feel like my driving statistics have been better than what they were last year,” Green said. “I feel like the venues probably haven’t been quite as tough as it is this week, so I think it’s going to be tricky going from making a lot of birdies to then perhaps only making a couple and striving for some pars at some stage.”
The Aramco Championship is one of five tournaments in the PIF Global Series. Last year’s edition, held near Houston, was won by Nuria Iturrioz of Spain at 13-under par.
