Three years ago, Meghan MacLaren took a rare and bold stance against playing in the first women’s professional golf event ever held in Saudi Arabia, saying that competing in the Kingdom didn’t fit with her values. The 28-year-old Englishwoman withdrew over concerns that the country was “sportswashing” its human rights record.
As the presence of Saudi Arabia money continues to grow in women’s golf, however, MacLaren’s stance has evolved.
This week the three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour is one of 120 players who will tee it up in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, which features a $5 million purse, the highest prize fund in women’s golf outside of the majors and the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
Considering that nearly a dozen events on the LET schedule last year featured purses below 300,000 euros, a non-major purse at $5 million offers a life-changing opportunity for many in the field, which features 60 Ladies European Tour players, 50 from the top 300 in the Rolex Rankings and 10 sponsor invites.
The winner at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City will receive $750,000.
“At some point, you have to reconcile,” said MacLaren. “This is my competitive nature and my profession versus how do I want to live my life? What do I want to stand up for?
“You have a voice to a certain point, but also, the better golfer I am and the more recognizable golfer I am, the louder I can use that voice.”
As things currently stand, abstaining from competing in events backed by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund would cripple an LET player’s chance to make a living and keep her card on that tour.
In addition to this week’s Saudi Ladies International, which features the same size purse the men played for earlier this month in Saudi, there are five stops around the world in the LET’s Aramco Team Series. Total prize money for all six Saudi-backed events on the LET is $10 million.
With two majors accounting for $13.8 million in prize money, Saudi money represents more than 40 percent of what remains.
“At the end of the day, money is power,” said MacLaren. “We live in a world where that is the truth, and you can’t get around that. How you choose to use that money will say a lot about who you are as a person.”
World No. 1 Lydia Ko won the 2021 Aramco Saudi Ladies International (courtesy Aramco)
The Saudi Ladies International field will feature 15 of the top 30 players in the…
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