Following a five-fold increase, the purse for year’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International offers equal prize money to the men’s tournament, which took place at the start of the month.
That means players will be competing for a $5m prize fund at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club. Of that, with the winner will earn $750,000. Not surprisingly, given the enormous financial incentive, many of the world’s best are in the 120-player field for the event including six of the world's top 10 and a total of 13 Major winners.
Georgia Hall is back to defend the trophy she won in 2022. The 2018 British Women’s Open champion won by a commanding five shots ahead of Johanna Gustavsson and Kristyna Napoleaova last year, and she will be confident of a repeat performance in 2023.
However, much of the expectation will be on World No.1 Lydia Ko. This will be Ko's first tournament since the two-time Major winner split with her caddie, Derek Kistler, despite a stellar 2022 that included three LPGA Tour victories among nine top-five finishes. The New Zealander will hope that the change will ensure she remains on top of her game in 2023, starting with the tournament she won two years ago.
Lexi Thompson, who won the Chevron Championship in 2014, is another standout name. The World No.7’s most recent win came last October in the Aramco Team Series New York, and she will hope for a strong start to her year in Saudi Arabia this week.
Other Major winners playing this week include World No.8 In Gee Chun, whose most recent of her three Major victories came in last year’s Women’s PGA Championship, and 2014 Evian Championship winner, World No.9 Hyo-Joo Kim. Danielle Kang, who won the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship and Hannah Green, who won the same tournament two years later, also play.
The most recent Major winner was South African Ashleigh Buhai, who claimed victory in last year’s AIG Women’s Open and she also plays this week. Anna Nordqvist, Jeong Eun Lee6, A Lim Kim, Eun-Hee Ji and Patty Tavatanakit complete the list of Major winners in the field.
The star-quality doesn’t end there. Other high-profile players competing include 2022 Race To Costa Del Sol victor Linn Grant, World No.4 Atthaya Thitikul, who became the second youngest World No.1 – albeit briefly – last year and World No.10 Nasa Hataoka. The four players immediately outside the top 10, Leona Maguire, Charley Hull, Xi Yu Lin, Celine Boutier, also play.
Below is the full breakdown of the prize money and field for the 2023 Aramco Saudi Ladies International.
Aramco Saudi Ladies International Prize Money
| Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| 1st | $750,000 |
| 2nd | $450,000 |
| 3rd | $300,000 |
| 4th | $225,000 |
| 5th | $180,000 |
| 6th | $155,000 |
| 7th | $140,000 |
| 8th | $125,000 |
| 9th | $120,000 |
| 10th | $115,000 |
| 11th | $110,000 |
| 12th | $105,000 |
| 13th | $100,000 |
| 14th | $95,000 |
| 15th | $90,000 |
| 16th | $87,500 |
| 17th | $85,000 |
| 18th | $82,500 |
| 19th | $80,000 |
| 20th | $77,500 |
| 21st | $74,000 |
| 22nd | $71,500 |
| 23rd | $69,000 |
| 24th | $66,500 |
| 25th | $64,000 |
| 26th | $61,500 |
| 27th | $58,500 |
| 28th | $56,000 |
| 29th | $53,500 |
| 30th | $51,000 |
| 31st | $49,000 |
| 32nd | $46,500 |
| 33rd | $44,500 |
| 34th | $43,000 |
| 35th | $41,500 |
| 36th | $40,000 |
| 37th | $38,400 |
| 38th | $37,000 |
| 39th | $35,500 |
| 40th | $34,000 |
| 41st | $32,500 |
| 42nd | $31,000 |
| 43rd | $29,500 |
| 44th | $28,000 |
| 45th | $27,000 |
| 46th | $26,000 |
| 47th | $25,000 |
| 48th | $24,000 |
| 49th | $23,500 |
| 50th | $23,000 |
| 51st | $22,000 |
| 52nd | $21,000 |
| 53rd | $20,000 |
| 54th | $19,500 |
| 55th | $18,500 |
| 56th | $17,000 |
| 57th | $16,500 |
| 58th | $16,000 |
| 59th | $15,500 |
| 60th | $15,000 |
| 61st | $14,500 |
| 62nd | $14,000 |
| 63rd | $13,500 |
| 64th | $13,000 |
| 65th | $12,500 |
| 66th | $12,000 |
Aramco Saudi Ladies International Field
- Casandra Alexander
- Carmen Alonso
- Brittany Altomare
- Pajaree Anannarukarn
- Elin Arvidsson
- Aditi Ashok
- Pia Babnik
- Marta Sanz Barrio
- Patricia Sanz Barrio
- Laura Beveridge
- Celine Boutier
- Becky Brewerton
- Ashleigh Buhai
- Hannah Burke
- Virginia Elena Carta
- Matilda Castren
- Jennifer Chang
- Ayean Cho
- In Gee Chun
- Carlota Ciganda
- Lauren Coughlin
- Olivia Cowan
- Gabriella Cowley
- Rosie Davies
- Manon De Roey
- Annabel Dimmock
- Gemma Dryburgh
- Nicole Broch Estrup
- Maria Fassi
- Cloe Frankish
- Cara Gainer
- Nicole Garcia
- Eleanor Givens
- Linn Grant
- Emma Grechi
- Hannah Green
- Johanna Gustavsson
- Minsong Ha
- Maha Haddioui
- Georgia Hall
- Lydia Hall
- Leonie Harm
- Nasa Hataoka
- Muni He
- Caroline Hedwall
- Esther Henseleit
- Alice Hewson
- Whitney Hillier
- Jung Min Hong
- Charley Hull
- Jeong Mee Hwang
- Jinhee Im
- Yun Ji Jeong
- Eun-Hee Ji
- Felicity Johnson
- Trish Johnson
- Danielle Kang
- Jessica Karlsson
- A Lim Kim
- Hyo-Joo Kim
- Cheyenne Knight
- Tiia Koivisto
- Stephanie Kyriacou
- Lydia Ko
- Aline Krauter
- Ines Laklalech
- Bronte Law
- Alison Lee
- Andrea Lee
- Jeongeun Lee6
- So Mi Lee
- Camilla Lennarth
- HeeJeong Lim
- Xi Yu Lin
- Yu Liu
- Gaby Lopez
- Meghan MacLaren
- Nanna Koerstz Madsen
- Leona Maguire
- Stephanie Meadow
- Wichanee Meechai
- Jana Melichova
- Kim Metraux
- Morgane Metraux
- Anne-Charlotte Mora
- Chiara Noja
- Anna Nordqvist
- Ryann O'Toole
- Lee-Anne Pace
- Alexa Pano
- Annie Park
- Emily Kristine Pedersen
- Lisa Pettersson
- Pornanong Phatlum
- Paula Reto
- Pauline Roussin
- Gabriela Ruffels
- Hae Ran Ryu
- Yuka Saso
- Agathe Sauzon
- Sarah Schober
- Jenny Shin
- Magdalena Simmermacher
- Marianne Skarpnord
- Ga Eun Song
- Klara Davidson Spilkova
- Linnea Strom
- Yujin Sung
- Atthaya Thitikul
- Lexi Thompson
- Michele Thomson
- Ana Pelaez Trivino
- Albane Valenzuela
- Anne Van Dam
- Lilia Vu
- Ursula Wikstrom
- Chloe Williams
- Sophie Witt
- Angel Yin
- Liz Young
Who's In The Field For The Aramco Saudi Ladies International?
Some of the world's best players are in the field, including World No.1 Lydia Ko, defending champion Georgia Hall, World No.4 Atthaya Thitikul, World No.7 Lexi Thompson and AIG Women's Open champion Ashleigh Buhai.
Where Is The Aramco Saudi Ladies International Being Held?
As well as parity with the men's tournament in the prize purse, the tournament is taking place at the same venue - Saudi Arabia's Royal Greens and Country Club.
