A Huge Few Days For Tom Kim, PIF Exits Women's Game And Masters Spot To Be Decided: This Week In Golf

This Week In Golf: Our regular look at the biggest stories in the game, tournament previews and other key details you need to know from around the world.

The Presidents Cup headed up a richly entertaining weekend of golf last time out with action from the DP World Tour and LPGA Tour also on the agenda.

This time out, the PGA Tour's stroke-play tournaments return while there's a particularly interesting DP World Tour event on the schedule and the LPGA Tour hops over to Hawaii.

It's not just tour golf you need to be on the look out for this week, though, with a prestigious amateur event offering up a spot at The Masters and a continental tournament with arguably an even bigger prize on the line.

Below are some of the most notable storylines from around the world of golf this week.

SAUDI PIF EXITS WOMEN'S GOLF

It appears as though the Saudi Arabian PIF has withdrawn its support of women's golf months after announcing it would no longer be finding the LIV Golf League either.

Formerly the backer of the Aramco Global Series, the PIF's relationship with pro golf is now all but over.

It used to sponsor what is now known as The Championship in London, but from 2027 that sponsorship will be lead by Golf Saudi - the country's national golf foundation with far smaller reserves than its predecessor.

In an announcement shared on Monday, Golf Saudi and the LET have announced a multi-year commitment which involves making The Championship a co-sanctioned $4 million event between the LET and LPGA Tour from 2027.

The Championship may well replace the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open on the LPGA Tour at least, which is reportedly not on the schedule at this stage, as it takes place at the end of July around the time of the Evian Championship and AIG Women's Open.

The parties also announced a multi-year partnership involving the LET’s Order of Merit program as well.

ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

One of the most popular events among players and fans alike, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2026.

The tournament is unique to the DP World Tour, with three courses and a slightly larger field than normal in operation. St Andrews' Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie welcome a field of 168 pros and the same number of celebrity or amateur partners.

Each group plays all three courses once before the top-60 pros and ties make the cut to play St Andrews one more time. Meanwhile, the top-20 scores by the duos go through to play for the title on Sunday.

There is $5 million in prize money up for grabs by the professionals as well as a heap of Ryder Cup qualification points and Race to Dubai points as well, so it's serious stuff amidst the more relaxed nature of amateur golf.

Robert MacIntyre is the defending champion, lifting this title for the first time just days after helping Team Europe win the Ryder Cup this time last year.

Adding another dimension to the tournament this year is the fact 26 golfers from the LIV Golf League are also playing - many of whom received invitations.

ASIAN GAMES

This week's Asian Games represents a huge opportunity for South Korean golfers to avoid mandatory two-year military service. The aim is to pick up a gold medal in either the four-round individual or team stroke-play events which run concurrently.

Perhaps the most high-profile player desperate to claim a victory is Tom Kim. The South Korean left the Presidents Cup before the winning moment on Sunday in order to fly over to Japan and begin preparing at Kasugai Country Club.

He made a solid start to the men's individual event, which began on Wednesday and ends on Saturday, by shooting a three-under round to sit inside the top-10.

Other high-profile names in the men's field include Japan's Keita Nakajima and Kazuki Higa as well as China's Wenyi Ding.

In the women's event, Singapore's Shannon Tan leads the way after round one (-7) with the likes of Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Wei-ling and China's Ruoning Yin in pursuit.

US MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP CONCLUDES

The US Mid-Amateur is already well underway at Sand Valley Resort in Wisconsin and only eight players remain at the time of writing.

2024 champion Bobby Massa claimed medalist honors in the two-round stroke play portion after shooting nine-under last weekend, only to go down 4&2 in the Round of 32 on Monday.

Meanwhile, former US Open competitor, +5 handicap and professional dentist Matt Vogt remains in the championship, as does top remaining seed Andrew Bailey (3).

The prize said octuplet is aiming for is of course one of the USGA's most prestigious titles. The other pretty cool perk is a spot at The Masters in 2027. The US Mid-Amateur Championship concludes on Thursday with a 36-hole final.

BANK OF UTAH CHAMPIONSHIP

The PGA Tour's FedExCup Fall is back after a brief hiatus and the Bank of Utah Championship will kick off a busy sprint to the finish line as tens of players try to save their cards.

From now until the end of the season, there are seven tournaments in eight weeks - each of which could offer a career-saving opportunity. The first of those is this week's Bank of Utah Championship.

Black Desert Resort in Utah is the stage a Tom Wieskopf-designed layout that only opened officially in 2023. Since then, Matt McCarty and Michael Brennan have triumphed there in PGA Tour events, going a long way to boosting their careers.

There's a $6 million prize purse on offer, but perhaps more importantly the champion claims 500 FedExCup Fall points.

LPGA LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP

At last year's LOTTE Championship in Hawaii, Youmin Hwang broke a run of three consecutive winners with the surname Kim after A Lim Kim, Grace Kim and Hyo Joo Kim picked up the trophy previously.

Hwang was also the 26th different winner on the LPGA Tour last term when she triumphed by a stroke, consequently picking up her first title on the LPGA Tour.

This year, Jeeno Thitikul leads another strong field at Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach, Oahu with each hoping to land the $450,000 top prize from an overall payout of $3 million.

WHAT ELSE TO KNOW

• The DP World Tour's penultimate event of the season will now be known as the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, bringing to an end its title sponsorship with HSBC
• Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Inbee Park and Jim Nantz have been listed as first-time nominations among 14 nominees for the World Golf Hall of Fame's Class of 2027.
• Dan Brown has cut his time on the PGA Tour short to focus on DP World Tour after a tough year involving a lack of form and injury.
• LPGA Tour chief marketing officer Chad Coleman has stepped down to spend more time with his family just months after beginning the role. In a subsequent LinkedIn post, Coleman shared he had something exciting to share soon, indicating he has another job lined up.
• Open champion Ryan Fox has committed to the DP World Tour's Genesis Championship in Korea during October.
• Kaleiya Romero has earned her LPGA Tour card via the Epson Tour and will join up with her sister Kiara Romero from next season.
• The Clutch Pro Tour Championship is taking place at Slaley Hall in England this week, with the top-3 players in the final order of merit earning HotelPlanner Tour cards for next season.