Latest news with #AlexandraArmas
CairoScene
11-05-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
PIF Launches USD 13 Million Women's Golf Series in Riyadh in 2025
The PIF Global Series features five events across three continents, offering one of the largest prize pools in women's golf. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been announced as the title partner of a newly restructured international women's golf series on the Ladies European Tour (LET), further expanding its investment in global sport and reinforcing its commitment to elevating women's athletic opportunities. 'These tournaments are well supported by our members through their end-to-end event experiences and competitive environments. This investment from PIF continues to raise the level of competition and commitment to the women's game, to ensure our players have the best possible opportunities to develop and succeed on the world stage,' Alexandra Armas, CEO of Ladies European Tour, tells SceneNowSaudi. Launched in collaboration with Golf Saudi, the PIF Global Series will feature five tournaments throughout 2025, with events scheduled across Asia, Europe and North America. The series will open in Riyadh with the PIF Saudi Ladies International at Riyadh Golf Club from February 13th to the 15th, 2025. This flagship event will offer a prize purse of USD 5 million, positioning it among the highest-paying tournaments in women's professional golf. Each of the remaining four events will feature a prize purse of USD 2 million, bringing the total series prize pool to USD 13 million. Alongside the Riyadh stop, tournaments will be held in Seoul, London, Houston and Shenzhen. The format will combine individual and team play, introducing a fresh competitive structure to the LET calendar. "The new PIF Global Series is another huge moment for the LET, as it continues to grow and offer more opportunities for players to play and win in amazing events around the world,' England's Charley Hull and Golf Saudi ambassador said. 'Golf Saudi and PIF have proven to be real game changers for women's golf, once again backing up their commitment to creating equal opportunities and raising the bar for the players. This marks another step in PIF's broader strategy to support women's sport on a global scale, following previous efforts through Golf Saudi and the Aramco Team Series.
CNBC
07-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Saudi sovereign wealth fund deepens investment in women's professional golf
PIF will become the title sponsor of revamped golf series. Saudi Arabia is deepening its investment in women's professional golf. The Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, announced on Wednesday that it will become the title partner of five events that will take place on the the Ladies European Tour. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of this latest deal, the tour will revamp the five events, which will be collectively rebranded as the PIF Global Series. The events take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Seoul, South Korea; London; Houston; and Shenzhen, China. "PIF continues to be a catalyst for the growth of women's sports, committed to delivering long-term transformative impact by inspiring and empowering female athletes at every level," Alanoud Althonayan, head of events and sponsorships at PIF, said in a statement. The revamped tournament format will feature team and individual competitions happening simultaneously. The Saudis are also injecting additional money into the prize pools, with a collective purse of $13 million across the five events. Alexandra Armas, CEO of the Ladies European Tour, said the partnership with PIF has helped raise the level of competition in the women's game and gives players more opportunities to succeed on the world stage. Saudi Arabia has been aggressively investing in professional sports in recent years as part of its vision to diversify the country's economy away from oil. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia has been slow to give Saudi women rights, those investments have included spending big money on international women's sports. Last May, the fund signed a multi-year partnership with the WTA Tour, the women's professional tennis organization, to grow the game and improve women's benefits in the league. And in March, PIF announced it will fully fund the tour's maternity fund, which would allow women to take up to a year of leave fully paid. However, PIF's foray into men's golf has been more complicated. Nearly two years ago, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan appeared on CNBC, announcing a merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour. But that deal has yet to happen, despite the latest push by President Donald Trump to bring the two parties together. The Aramco Korea Championship kicks off Friday in Seoul.
