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The Ladies European Tour has joined forces with Golf Saudi to introduce a new $4 million team event to be played on three different continents later this year.
The Aramco Team Series will feature LET-sanctioned events in New York, London and Singapore before culminating in a season finale at the Royal Greens and Country Club, Jeddah, in November. Each 54-hole tournament is worth $1 million.
The series forms an important part of the LET’s 2021 schedule, due to be announced on 12 February and expected to include 27 events.
Team captains will recruit one fellow tour pro through a draft system similar to those used by the National Football League and the National Basketball Association in America. Another tour pro will be selected at random, while teams will include one amateur whose score will count for the team total. Team prize money will be split between the three professionals.
“Today marks a new journey in the history of the European Ladies Tour,” said Alexandra Armas, LET chief executive officer. “This brand new Aramco Series takes golf and the sport to a whole new level and I am incredibly excited by all four events.”
The New York, London and Singapore venues are still to be announced.
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers is confident the 149th Open Championship will go ahead as planned on 15-18 July.
He also is hopeful that at least a limited number of spectators will be at Royal St George’s.
“We will play The Open this year,” Slumbers said in an interview with Sky Sports News. “We are certainly planning to stage The Open but clearly, at this point, there are multiple scenarios.
“We are working with the government and the health authorities, and it’s certainly a lot more complex than staging a normal Open Championship, but we are going to do everything we possibly can to put on a great championship for the country.
“I think there’s a very good possibility we will be able to have spectators, but we will have to wait and see how many. We are balancing the health and safety of everyone involved but strongly believe The Open needs spectators.”
Amundi has signed a five-year deal to sponsor the Evian Championship.
The event, one of women’s golf’s five major championships, will be renamed the Amundi Evian Championship, with prize money rising $400,000 to $4.5 million.
Amundi, described as the European leader in asset management, cited business reasons for its decision to switch allegiance from men’s golf to women’s golf.
“We are delighted to become title sponsor for this great tournament in women’s sport,” chief executive officer Yves Perrier said. “The tournament’s global reach will benefit Amundi, in particular in Asia, an important region for our company.
“We are committed over the next five years to supporting Europe’s women golfers to enable them to emerge onto the international golf scene. Equal opportunity is indeed one of Amundi’s core values.”
This year’s championship takes place 22-25 July at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France.
The Open de France is back on the European Tour schedule after what turned out to be a short hiatus.
Continental Europe’s oldest national open – first played in 1906 – was notable by its absence when the tour announced its original 2021 schedule. That omission now has been rectified. Le Golf National, venue for the past 19 French Opens, stages the tournament 6-9 May, with local favourite Grégory Havret confirmed as its first official host.
“The Open de France is one of our most historic tournaments and Le Golf National is one of the leading venues in Europe, so we are delighted that both will feature as part of our schedule this year,” European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley confirmed.
However, it is not all good news. The championship is searching for a new title sponsor after Amundi withdrew to take up the same position at the Evian Championship.
This year’s €1.5 million prize fund is also well down from the €7 million on offer when the championship was part of the tour’s Rolex Series ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup, which undoubtedly will have a bearing on the quality of the field.
Phil Mickelson has not ruled out his chances of a 13th successive appearance for the United States in this year’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.
Speaking before the start of last week’s Saudi International, 50-year-old Mickelson, currently 40th on the US Ryder Cup points standings, said: “There’s a lot of golf left, and if I play well, if I can win a couple of tournaments, I think I might warrant some consideration.
“It would be an honour to be part of the team as a vice-captain if that’s what Steve Stricker, our captain, wants. But, obviously, I’d love to play.”
Ray Floyd is the oldest player to represent the US in the Ryder Cup. He was 51 and 20 days old in 1993, 24 years after his 1969 debut. Age proved no barrier for Floyd that year. He won three times and lost just once, his 3 points making him joint top scorer on the US team.
Martin Vorster lived up to his billing as South Africa’s No 1 amateur when he cruised to a four-shot victory in the South African Stroke Play Championship staged over the Firethorn Course at Randpark.
Vorster, 19, the world No 29 from Mossel Bay, claimed a seven-shot lead ahead of Kieron van Wyk after opening rounds of 64, 65 and 66, and went on to close with 2-under-par 70 to finish four shots ahead of his nearest rival on 23-under-par 265.
It was Vorster’s fifth international amateur title, having last year edged out England’s Olly Huggins on the fourth extra hole at the African Amateur Stroke Play at Leopard Creek. Previously, Vorster also won the 2017 Italian Under-16 International, the 2019 East of Ireland Championship and the 2018 Junior Open at St Andrews before sustaining a serious wrist injury which derailed his progress last year.
“Nothing boosts your confidence like winning tournaments and I’m going to take a huge amount of self-assurance away from this win,” Vorster said. “This one is particularly special for me after the wrist setback last April.
“I didn’t swing a club for 5½ months. I began chipping in October but didn’t hit full shots until the end of November.”
Van Wyk’s closing 67 saw him consolidate second place on 269, two shots ahead of Ryan van Velzen. In-form Casey Jarvis shared fourth place with Stals Swart three shots further behind.
Vincent Norrman earned a bonus for winning the Timuquana Collegiate: It made him Sweden’s top player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The Florida State University student took the title by a shot and leapfrogged seven spots to world No 11, now ahead of world No 17 Ludvig Åberg.
Åberg came up with a strong answer on Sunday however, winning the prestigious Jones Cup Invitational in Sea Island, Georgia.
Colin Callander and Alistair Tait