A missile strike on King Khalid International Airport has raised fresh security concerns in Saudi Arabia, disrupting plans for one of the region’s biggest golf events. The PIF Saudi International, scheduled to close the Asian Tour’s season in November, has been postponed amid rising tensions in the Middle East. The tournament offered a $5 million prize purse and had previously been won by Harold Varner III, Abraham Ancer and Joaquín Niemann. Organizers have yet to announce a new date, leaving its place on the Asian Tour calendar uncertain.
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Now it’s official. Golf Saudi and the Asian Tour have confirmed that the PIF Saudi International has been postponed. The season finale was due to run from November 18 to 21. The tour says it remains in direct contact with its players and members about next steps.
The statement points to “organisational and logistical challenges” and promises more details “in due course.” It never names a threat. But the golf account Flushing It, which shared the announcement, posted days earlier that a friend in Riyadh said residents had received a state phone alert about a “hostile aerial threat.” That is a secondhand account and unverified, but it fits what the wider news shows.
A deadly missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on October 10 killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300, according to Saudi authorities. CNN described it as the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in more than a decade
The airport was still closed on Monday. The attacks followed the collapse of a truce in July.
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The Six Kings Slam, the exhibition set to bring Alcaraz, Djokovic and Zverev to Riyadh from October 21, has been pushed to December 27-30. Three Saudi Pro League fixtures were moved, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr match was delayed by an hour because of a missile alert.
Six Kings organisers also cited “organizational and logistical challenges.” Earlier in the week, the Asian Tour said player and staff safety is “always our number one priority.” The overlap isn’t proof of anything, and neither statement links its decision to the attacks. But it suggests the same cautious messaging.
Why The PIF Postponed Stings the Asian Tour More Than Most
This is not the first blow of 2026. In April, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) withdrew its funding from LIV Golf, and the Asian Tour’s LIV-backed International Series went down with it. Events in India and China were cancelled, and the tour scrapped its 2027 Qualifying School.
It then struck a multi-year deal with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, which hands its Order of Merit winner a DP World Tour card.
Through all that upheaval, the Saudi International survived as a $5 million event. That is why this postponement lands hard. As the season finale, it was meant to be the tour’s showpiece after a bruising year. How a delayed finale would affect the Order of Merit race is something the tour hasn’t yet addressed.
The tournament has been postponed, not cancelled. However, the Asian Tour has not confirmed whether it will be rescheduled for later this year, moved to 2027, or held at another venue. The Six Kings Slam has shown that an event can be moved to a later date, but it is a different competition, and no similar plan has been announced for the Saudi International.
The delay leaves players waiting for clarity on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit points and the tournament’s prize money. The tour must also decide how the postponement will affect its season schedule. For now, the timing of the tournament’s return to Riyadh remains uncertain and will depend on the situation in the region.