At a player meeting at the FM Championship in late August, LPGA officials gave players an early glimpse of the 2027 schedule.
Notably missing from the list was the Aramco Championship, held in Las Vegas at Shadow Creek, as well as the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, held at Dundonald Links the week prior to the AIG Women’s British Open.
While the schedule didn’t reveal what would take the place of the Scottish event, Golfweek has learned that the PIF London Championship will slide into that spot as a newly co-sanctioned event.
In prior years, the PIF London Championship was an LET-only event that was part of the PIF Global Series. It’s unclear at this point where the new co-sanctioned event will be held or if it will be part of a broader series.
With the upheaval in the men’s game, as LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, there are questions surrounding how much the PIF will continue to invest in the women’s game.
Last November, the LPGA first partnered with Golf Saudi for the Aramco event in Vegas after the tour lost T-Mobile as title sponsor for the only match-play event on the schedule. The 2026 Aramco event, won by Lauren Coughlin, returned with a stroke-play format and a purse of $4 million.
It lasted one year in Vegas before shifting overseas.
“We’re finalizing our 2027 schedule, and we’re genuinely excited about where it’s headed,” said J.D. Sterba, the LPGA's vice president of communications, in a message to Golfweek. “We’ve remained focused on three priorities: routing, courses and purses. Those are the areas we’re committed to strengthening in 2027 and beyond.
“You’ll already see some of that in our new additions, including the Nanea Cup in Hawaii next March, our event in Hong Kong and the return of our tournament in Corning. There are still some moving pieces – and few more announcements in the weeks ahead – but we have great momentum, and we look forward to sharing the full 2027 schedule with everyone later this fall.”
In July, it was reported that Kroger would no longer sponsor the tour’s Cincinnati stop. That event was essentially replaced by the return of Corning. The new Hong Kong event replaces China's Blue Bay LPGA that debuted in 2014. In both cases, the new events feature a higher purse.
The Scottish Open has been around since the mid-80s but became a co-sanctioned LPGA event in 2017. A number of highly decorated players have won the event, including major champions such as Ariya Jutanugarn (2018), Stacy Lewis (2020), Ayaka Furue (2022) and Celine Boutier (2023). Lottie Woad, notably, won her first LPGA event as a professional in 2025 at Dundonald Links.
This year's tournament, won by Jenny Shin,featured a $2 million purse. The event, run by IMG, has had several different title sponsors over the years and was backed by the Scottish government, as is the men’s Genesis Scottish Open. In recent years, the LPGA has had to subsidize some of the costs of running the event, which would certainly play a role in the LPGA's decision. Though betting on Saudi money these days is a sizable gamble given that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund pulled its funding from LIV Golf.
There is currently only one Scottish player on the LPGA: Gemma Dryburgh.
In a statement to Golfweek, the LET said that it intends to keep the Scottish Open on its calendar going forward. Tournament director Harry Owen of IMG said they’re currently working on a solution and a date that will work for all partners.
“With their support, this tournament has become one of the players’ favorite events on tour,” said Owen, “and is considered the ideal preparation for the AIG Women’s Open, with seven of the world’s top 10 players in the field this year.”
Many players stayed onsite at Dundonald and got a refresher on links golf prior to the final major of the season. For the past two years, Nelly Korda, Charley Hull and Woad were grouped together for the first two rounds of the Scottish Open.
It’s possible that there will be no way for LPGA players to prep on a links course prior to the British, which would be akin to tennis players not having a grass-court series in the lead-up to Wimbledon.
The LPGA’s crammed summer of majors includes the Amundi Evian, held July 8-11, and the AIG Women's British, July 28-Aug. 1 in 2027. There are two weeks in between those majors, but with the men’s British Open immediately following Evian, that week is left open for the women. The PIF London event will move from the week after the Women’s British to the week prior.
As for the rest of the Aramco events, the LET said that, “With an announcement coming soon, Golf Saudi will remain an important and valued partner of the LET’s future plans.”
The PIF Global Series includes five events in 2026 and a total of $15 million in purses, which, without the two majors, represents more than half of the LET’s total prize funds.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA and all things women's golf. Follow her on X/Twitter (@GolfweekNichols).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Future of Scottish Open in question as it drops from LPGA schedule
