The LPGA has been flirting with a global makeover for a few years now. With a struggle in viewership, Craig Kessler has been scrambling to rope in resources. Amidst those complications, a seismic announcement dropped in early November. The Tour will now collaborate with the Saudi Arabia-backed PIF for the 2026 Aramco Championship. Even after it raised several eyebrows, the LPGA boss is adamant in justifying his stance.

“What we’ve effectively done here is…to bring Golf Saudi, the LET, and the LPGA together,” he explained when Golf Channel‘s Gary Williams asked the ‘whys’ behind this decision. “To create…even more harmony in the ecosystem. And that is exactly what we’re trying to achieve here…partnership and harmony across women’s golf so that the future looks even better than the past.”

Kessler’s decision might seem like the need of the hour. For years, the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour (LET) have been together. At the same time, for the past few years, LET has gotten closer to Golf Saudi. Prominent players like Charley Hull have been its ambassadors, trying to bring in the much-needed attention for its success. The result of it has been evident.

The five biggest purses on the LET schedule are Saudi-backed. They go as high as $5 M. In fact, the Tour’s financial revival since 2020 is tied almost entirely to Aramco and the PIF. The total prize fund for the 2025 season exceeded €39 million (approx. $45 M), which is massive compared to pre-pandemic times.

Following the cue, Kessler believes the LPGA should also join hands with Golf Saudi. The next year’s Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek seemed like the perfect fit. It will be the first US-based LPGA event that is directly funded by the PIF.

But isn’t that sportswashing?

Williams, perhaps on the same pretext, prods Kessler to give his opinion on the term. But it seems the new commissioner knows how to tread the line. For him, sports’ main aim would always remain to bring people together.

“It’s an interesting word,” he told Gary Williams. “Here’s what I’ll say: change happens one step at a time. It doesn’t happen overnight. I think one of the beautiful things about sports is… the ability to bring people together. That’s a very, very powerful thing.”

Craig Kessler’s answers touch the center of the entire debate. The LPGA’s counterpart, the PGA Tour, has not left a single stone unturned to distance itself from LIV Golf, backed by PIF. Exactly this year, it rejected its $1.5 B investment offer. What’s interesting is that all this happened when the merger talks with LIV were at an all-time high. Names like Tiger Woods and Donald Trump were actively getting involved.

Reasons for the PGA Tour to assume such a moral high ground could be many. Firstly, it already had around $3 B in investment from the Sports Strategic Group (SSG). Secondly, it doesn’t really need much help in terms of broadcasting and viewership. The PGA Tour very well surpasses LIV in terms of all these aspects, given that the latter has been struggling financially for a while now. But the same cannot be said for the LPGA.

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Why should the LPGA’s collaboration with PIF be seen in a different light?

Gender disparity in terms of wages exists everywhere, and golf is not an exception. The LPGA clearly works in a completely different universe than the PGA Tour. It’s staggering, honestly, to look at the difference.

In 2021, the LPGA’s total prize money was $62 M. This year, it saw an upward mark and reached $132 M. That’s success? Sure. But it is still ten times less than the PGA Tour’s total annual prize distribution! In fact, outside of the Majors, the LPGA purses have gone down. There’s only a 19% increase over 10 years. That’s below inflation. This is coming after an increase.

The brunt of this is faced by lower-ranked LPGA players. Many outside the top 30 do not have access to the appearance fees and sponsorship opportunities that top stars enjoy. In the men’s field, the top 50 or even 100 have notable players who can rope in lucrative deals any day. Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler’s sponsor exemptions are one such example. They haven’t performed well, yet their name can attract large crowds.

“I’ve seen so many players quit due to finances and not due to lack of talent,” Amy Olson, an LPGA veteran, said a few years back. “You have to have a tour that provides sustainability for that next generation, and we don’t have that right now.”

Now, when PIF backs LET with $5 M for a single event, it equals $1 M more than the combined purses for the two opening LPGA tour events of the season. This is exactly why, when the LPGA decided to join hands with PIF, the response from its players wasn’t one of scrutiny. Instead, it was more of “What took so long?”

And, if one were to defend the LPGA more, we can say that it’s not bending down to a rival group. Unlike the PGA Tour, which had to deal with a competitor, the LPGA players will simply play in an event funded by PIF. That, in some way, softens the blow.