The LPGA is on a break this week, but Lydia Ko will be joining Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda, and others to headline the Ladies European Tour in Florida for the latest Aramco Team Series event at Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump International hosted the LPGA’s ADT Championship, which ends the season for eight years.
The total prize money for the LET this year is a record 35 million euros (about 37M). The LET schedule for 2023 includes six Saudi-backed events, including the Aramco Team Series, which features five stops around the world, each with a purse of $1 million. The series started in Singapore in March last year.
Aramco will also make stops at the Centurion Club, London, in July next year, Hong Kong, in October and a final stop in Saudi Arabia, Nov. 3 – 5, at Riyadh Golf Club. These events are controversial, given the many human rights violations that Saudi Arabia is accused of, particularly towards women.
Ko started 2023 with victory at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International. The tournament featured a purse of $5 million. However, she has not yet competed on the LPGA this season. She missed out on the first major of the year, the Chevron Championship. Since February, she hasn’t been able to finish in the top 30.
Golfweek spoke with Ko before the LET to discuss her recent form, how she played Pebble Beach for the first-time, and what it was like caddying on the U.S. Am Tour for Jun Chung in Monterey California last month. Spoiler: she was “super-proud.”
The following are some excerpts of that conversation.
