PIF will become the main sponsor of the renewed golf series.
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Saudi Arabia is deepening its investment in the professional female golf.
The Public Investment Fund, the Sovereign Fund for Saudi Arabia wealth, announced on Wednesday that it will become the main partner of five events that will take place in the European Ladies tour.
The terms of the agreement were not revealed.
As part of this last agreement, the tour will renew the five events, which will be changed collectively as the PIF Global series. The events take place in Riad, Saudi Arabia; Seoul, South Korea; London; Houston; and Shenzhen, China.
“PIF remains a catalyst for the growth of women’s sports, committed to offering a long -term transformative impact by inspiring and empowering female athletes at all levels,” said Alanoud Althonayan, head of events and sponsorships in PIF, in a statement.
The renewed tournament format will have team and individual competitions that occur simultaneously.
The Saudites are also injecting additional money into the awards, with a collective bag of $ 13 million in the five events.
Alexandra Armas, CEO of Ladies European Tour, said that the association with PIF has helped raise the level of competition in the women’s game and gives the players more opportunities to succeed in the world stage.
Saudi Arabia has been invested aggressively 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 taken rights to Saudi women, these investments have included spending a lot of money on women’s international sports.
Last May, the Fund signed a several year association with the WTA Tour, the professional female tennis organization, to increase the game and improve the benefits of women in the League.
And in March, PIF announced that it will completely finance the maternity fund of the tour, which would allow women to take up to a year of fully paid license.
However, PIF raid in the male golf has been more complicated.
Almost two years ago, the PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, and the governor of PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, appeared in CNBC, announcing a fusion between Liv Golf and the PGA Tour. But that agreement has not yet happened, despite the last impulse of President Donald Trump to unite the two parties.
The Aramco Korean championship begins Friday in Seoul.
