The LPGA Tour has unveiled a new tournament for its 2026 schedule with a new partner. The Tour is bringing the 2026 Aramco Championship to Shadow Creek Golf Club, Las Vegas, from March 30 to April 5, 2026, in partnership with Golf Saudi. Stars like Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, and Lydia Ko are already getting ready to compete for the $4M prize purse. However, there are a few names missing from the 120-player field.

1. Lexi Thompson

Lexi Thompson ended her three-year victory drought with a win at the 2022 LET Aramco Team Series event with a final-day score of 3-under 69. She left Brooke Henderson and Madelene Sagstrom behind with a margin of three strokes. However, Thompson is skipping out on the 2026 Aramco Championship.

She has recently married her long-time love, Max Provost, and she already announced her semi-retirement in 2024, meaning she will play a limited number of events every year. With 11 LPGA Tour wins and a win at the 2014 Chevron Championship, Thompson could have been a strong contender for the 120-player field.

However, this season, Thompson has appeared in only one LPGA tournament. The Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass. Unfortunately, she failed to make the cut by shooting an even par 144. To make things worse, she got to know of her grandfather’s passing after landing at home after missing the cut at the Ford Championship.

2. Georgia Hall

With her regional success at Aramco and Saudi-based tournaments, Georgia Hall could have been one of the chief attractions for the 2026 Aramco Championship. She’s also a major champion (2018 Women’s British Open) who has established herself with the 2022 Saudi Ladies International win.

Having won so many events in the Aramco region, Hall’s absence seems unusual. But if we look at her recent scorecards, she has been struggling with consistency. In 2025, Georgia Hall made only 6 cuts in 12 starts and finished in the top 10 in only one event (T9 in Honda LPGA Thailand). And in the current season, she’s yet to make an appearance on the LPGA Tour.

3. Alison Lee

Alison Lee has two wins in the Ladies European Tour, and both of them came at the Aramco Team Series (2021 and 2023) with a margin of five and eight strokes, respectively. In the 2026 season, she has made a T25 finish at the LET Saudi Ladies International with a score of 10-under 278.

However, like Lexi Thompson, Lee is more inclined towards her personal life. Now that she’s a mother of a baby boy (born last April), her responsibilities at home have significantly increased.

Back in May 2025, she took to Instagram to announce the birth of Levi and said, “Golf used to be so, so, so important to me. I used to wake up, think about golf, and breathe golf. Every thought I had and every goal I had in terms of life goals or thinking about tomorrow, thinking about next month, thinking about next year, or the next day was all surrounded by golf. But now, I feel so laser-focused on this little guy, trying to cater to him and make sure he’s comfortable.”

4. Emily Pedersen

Like Hall, Emily Pedersen is also closely associated with the Aramco ecosystem. Her career highlights include five LET titles (including a win at the 2020 Aramco Saudi Ladies International) and multiple Solheim Cup appearances. Last season, she made 13 cuts in 20 starts. However, she failed to get inside the top 10 in any event. But she did finish T11 at the Amundi Evian Championship.

Despite being one of the top and consistent contenders from Europe, she remains absent from the 2026 Aramco Championship. Her absence may be because of the fluctuating rankings. She did fail to qualify for the AIG Women’s Open in 2025 because of that. 

5. Lin Xiyu

Given her success in Aramco, Lin Xiyu’s absence from the Aramco Championship is more noticeable. She has won three Ladies European Tour events, and that includes a win at the 2023 Aramco Team Series. She entered a playoff against Ko Jin-Young and won the event with a birdie on the second extra hole. Who knows, she could have increased her ratings on the Rolex list with an appearance at the upcoming event. It’s worth noting that she has been inactive for a long while now. 

But if we look at the confirmed entries into the Aramco Championship, who do you think has the highest probability of winning the $4 million event?