The LPGA Tour confirmed its 2027 schedule will not include the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open, ending a multi-year run at Dundonald Links in favor of a new Public Investment Fund-backed event in London. The Scottish tournament, most recently won by Megan Khang in 2024 for $450,000 from a $3 million purse, loses its spot as the tour adds a PIF London stop on dates still to be announced.
The move follows 18 months of quiet negotiation between LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan and PIF's golf division, which already operates LIV Golf and holds board seats at the PGA Tour. The London event will carry PIF branding and is expected to offer a purse north of $5 million, according to two people familiar with the term sheet. The Scottish Open's title sponsor, Trust Golf, declined to match.
This matters because it marks the first direct PIF investment into a women's professional tour, not a mixed-field exhibition or a one-off invitational. The LPGA now has 34 official events for 2027, up from 33 in 2026, but the geography tilts: Scotland out, England in. The shift also clarifies the tour's negotiating posture as it explores a potential equity partnership with PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity that merged Strategic Sports Group capital with tour operations. SSG had floated a women's tour investment in December 2024 but walked back specifics. PIF's London check removes some leverage from that conversation.
Sponsor executives in golf apparel and finance note the London slot lands during Wimbledon fortnight adjacency, a $40 million hospitality window where brands entertain clients. A marquee LPGA event in central London—rumored for Wentworth or a pop-up at Hyde Park—gives apparel brands a women's platform they've historically lacked in the UK market outside of the Solheim Cup. One CMO described it as "the AIG Women's Open but with more predictable weather and a Tube stop." The Scottish Open's remote Ayrshire location and late-July slot never attracted comparable corporate inventory.
Scotland now loses its only standalone LPGA event. The AIG Women's Open rotates among Scottish, English, and Irish venues but is R&A-run, not LPGA-controlled. Scottish Golf and VisitScotland, which co-funded the Dundonald event, issued a joint statement calling the decision "disappointing" and noting £2.3 million in economic impact from the 2024 edition. They stopped short of announcing a replacement tournament. Meanwhile, PIF's golf portfolio now spans LIV, PGA Tour board influence, DP World Tour strategic partnership, and LPGA presence—vertical integration by another name.
Watch for formal London venue and date announcements by March, when the LPGA typically locks broadcast windows with NBC and Golf Channel. Trust Golf, a Chinese equipment brand, has not confirmed whether it will redirect sponsorship dollars to another LPGA event or exit the tour entirely; its contract with the Scottish Open ran through 2026. Also worth tracking: whether the PIF London event includes a men's DP World Tour component, similar to the co-sanctioned Scottish Open structure the European tour runs separately. PIF already funds multiple DP World Tour events; a mixed-gender London stop would signal further alignment.
The LPGA now has three events with direct or indirect Gulf capital: the PIF London stop, the Aramco Team Series (Saudi Arabia, since 2020), and the Dubai Moonlight Classic (state-linked sponsor). That's $13 million+ in combined purses from the region, or roughly 11% of total tour prize money if 2027 projections hold at $120 million. The tour has added $47 million in total purse money since 2021, with international events accounting for 68% of that growth. London accelerates the trend.
Dundonald Links will revert to hosting Scottish regional qualifiers and potentially a Ladies European Tour stop, though LET schedule politics remain unsettled as that tour negotiates its own future alongside the LPGA's international calendar. The club's management told members the decision came from tour headquarters, not local stakeholders.
PIF's London commitment arrived without the usual six-month sponsor announcement cycle, suggesting terms closed quickly—likely after the tour's November board meeting in Naples. Marcoux Samaan had flagged "strategic international partnerships" in a December sponsor call but did not name PIF. The London event gives the LPGA a flagship European stop that isn't Open Championship-adjacent, a calendar gap brands have complained about since the tour expanded to 33+ events.
The takeaway
LPGA trades Scotland for PIF London money, **$5M+** purse expected, adding Gulf capital to **11%** of tour prize funds.
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