The Saudi International is a professional golf tournament. It was held at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, from 2019 until 2023. The tournament moved to Riyadh Golf Club for the 2024 edition. The tournament has been title sponsored by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a Saudi government sovereign wealth fund since 2022.
History Established in 2019 as a European Tour event, it was the first European Tour event to be played in Saudi Arabia and was one of six European Tour events staged in the countries on the Arabian Peninsula. The event has drawn criticism due to the involvement of Saudi Arabia's government in the event, based on their record of human rights within the country and their ventures of sportswashing. This included paying large appearance fees to some of the world's top players.
The tournament ceased to be a European Tour event after the 2021 edition, and later that year it was announced that as a result, the PGA Tour would not allow their members to compete in future editions, with the European Tour expected to do the same. In September 2021, it was announced that it would become part of the Asian Tour's schedule. This involved a ten-year deal starting in 2022, with an increased prize fund of . In October, it was announced that the event would become the flagship event of the Asian Tour. In December, the PGA Tour revealed that they would grant their members releases to play in the event in 2022; on the condition that they committed to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in some form in the following years.
In January 2022, it was announced that the Saudi Public Investment Fund had become the new title sponsor of the event.
Winners Asian Tour (International Series)2024–Asian Tour (Flagship event)2022European Tour/Asian Tour (Regular)2019–2021, 2023 #YearTourWinnerScoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-upPurse(US$)Winner'sshare ($)VenuePIF Saudi International7th 2025 ASA Josele Ballester 262 −22 3 strokes Caleb Surratt 5,000,000 1,000,000 Riyadh GC6th 2024 ASA Joaquín Niemann 263 −21 Playoff Cameron Smith Caleb Surratt 5,000,000 1,000,000 Riyadh GC5th 2023 ASA Abraham Ancer 261 −19 2 strokes Cameron Young 5,000,000 1,000,000 Royal Greens4th 2022 ASA Harold Varner III 267 −13 1 stroke Bubba Watson 5,000,000 1,000,000 Royal GreensSaudi International3rd 2021 EUR Dustin Johnson (2) 265 −15 2 strokes Tony Finau Justin Rose 3,500,000 572,778 Royal Greens2nd 2020 EUR Graeme McDowell 268 −12 2 strokes Dustin Johnson 3,500,000 583,330 Royal Greens1st 2019 EUR Dustin Johnson 261 −19 2 strokes Li Haotong 3,500,000 583,330 Royal Greens
See also Saudi Open
Notes
References
External links
Coverage on the Asian Tour's official site Coverage on the European Tour's official site