Charley Hull leads celebrity-laden field in Saudi Ladies International at 5 million dollars.

Charley Hull leads celebrity-laden field in Saudi Ladies International at 5 million dollars.

Charley Hull will headline with the 2026 Loose European Tour season starting with the PIF Saudi Ladies International, a $5 million championship that will be held in February 11-14 in Riyadh Golf Club.

As the LPGA takes a brief hiatus before its spring visit to Asia, a number of top players will be playing in Saudi Arabia. The world No. 5, Hull, has anchored the field following a tie on 17 th position at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of champions in Orlando as her season kicked off. The English favourite has a soft spot in Riyadh, where she won the trophy two years ago to win her fourth LET title and she already boasts of three wins on the LPGA Tour.

She will have a world No. 14 Rio Takeda, the Japanese Chizzy and Akie Iwai, Nasa Hataoka, Celine Boutier and Amy Yang who came second to Nelly Korda last week in the weather-cut TOC.

The occasion is also the debut of 2026 of the much rated LPGA rookies Helen Briem and Mimi Rhodes. Newly contracted Muni He will play on a sponsor exemption, and Danielle Kang and Alison Lee, who resumes playing after giving birth to her first child.

There is a five time major champion Yani Tseng who brings in an interesting plot. Tseng made a successful return in 2025, becoming LET champion in Taiwan to take her first title in any tour since 2014 and also made the cut at last year’s AIG Women British Open – her first cut in the LPGA in three years.

The field is completed by Shannon Tan, the current LET Order of Merit winner, the 2025 LET champion of Singapore, Patty Tavatanakit, and regular at the Solheim Cup, Carlota Ciganda, who got married to her long-term partner James Longman in the off-season.

The Saudi Ladies International is a 72-hole event that has the largest purse in the LET besides the majors. It also heralds the new PIF Global Series which is a five event sequel supported by Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.

As it has been the case with past Saudi-backed tournaments, the event is still under the limelight with continued concerns over human rights practises in the country especially when it comes to women. Another first will also be the 2026 season, where the LPGA will also be sanctioning a fund-event through PIF, the Aramco Championship, and will take place April 2-5 at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.