The Aramco Team Series can now barely be called “new” after its third instalment took place at Glen Oaks Club, NY, but the innovative tournament series returned to the LET schedule on 14-16 October 2021, when 28 teams of three pros, joined by one amateur, compete for a $1M prize purse.
Since the unique team format was trialled in the Saudi Ladies Team International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, KAEC, in November 2020, Performance54 has staged and marketed what has subsequently been branded the Aramco Team Series.
Featuring six of the top 20 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, the New York leg of the series boasted the strongest ever field for an Aramco golf event. It also marked the first ever LET scheduled tournament to be played on US soil.
New York lived up to its name as “the city that never sleeps” after it took two-holes of floodlit night-golf between the respective captains of Teams Popov and Korda, 2020 Women’s British Open winner, Sophia, and six-time LPGA winner, Jessica, with the 28-year-old sister of World No. 1 Nelly seeing her squad crowned as team champions.
The triumphant fourball – comprising the Race to Costa Del Sol’s current #19, Karolin Lampert (GER), Lina Boqvist (SWE), and amateur Alexandra O’Laughlin – reached a Series low -41 on Saturday afternoon, a score that looked destined to secure the event’s team crown.
While a battling captain’s play-off performance powered Team Korda to pole position on the final day of the Aramco Team Series – New York, England’s Charley Hull bagged the tournament’s solo title.
Speaking afterwards, Korda said: “It is so nice to share this win with a team. It’s such an individual sport so this is different and really cool.
“Today we really came together, and it was one of our best days, especially on those last six holes. We were just having fun, hyping each other up.”
“Sophia and I are great friends and playing anything against any of your best friends is tough. But golf is golf and friendship is more important.”
Initial reports show the media attention for the last day’s play saw an upsurge of more than 45% with media value increasing by more than 500% over the previous day’s results.
To read about the event from just a few of our favourite highlight pieces, please visit any of the following:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/58944555
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/17/golf/team-jessica-korda-let-us-spt-intl/index.html
https://www.golfchannel.com/news/team-j-korda-gets-aramco-team-series-win-playoff-dark
https://golf.com/news/charley-hull-wins-aramco-team-series/
https://nypost.com/2021/10/15/glen-oaks-club-to-play-host-to-top-womens-golf-event/
