The fourth round of the Aramco Team Series tees off in Jeddah on Wednesday, promising to be a spectacular finale to the first-of-its-kind event in tour history.
Following the Aramco Saudi Ladies International last week, the Ladies European Tour stays in Saudi Arabia this week for the Aramco Team Series - Jeddah; the fourth and final event of the team series.
A winning field
All three individual winners from the Aramco Team Series events in 2021 are in the field this week, with Marianne Skarpnord (London), Alison Lee (Sotogrande) and Charley Hull (New York) all on captain duties.
Victory at La Reserva Club, Spain for Lee was her first as a professional, while in New York the American finished T13 individually and T10 in the team event.
England’s Alice Hewson was another player who did well at Royal Greens to equal her best finish of the 2021 season with T3.
Hewson picked South African Casandra Hall – who was a member of winning Team Pedersen in 2020 – and they will play alongside Spain’s Laura Gomez Ruiz and amateur Andre Hendriks.
“It gives me a lot of confidence heading into next week playing at the same course,” said the 2020 Investec SA Women’s Open champion.
Aramco Team Series - London - Individual and Team winners 
Aramco Team Series - Sotogrande -
Team Winners
Aramco Team Series - Sotogrande -Individual winner Alison Lee 
Aramco Team Series - New York - Team and Individual winners
Australian Whitney Hillier recorded her best finish of the 2021 season with T5 at last week’s ASLI after shooting 12-under-par.
Hillier was chosen by Wales’ Chloe Williams with France’s Anais Meyssonnier completing the professional line up and they are joined by amateur Michael Anthony Duffy.
She explained: “I hope to do the same as I did in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International in the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah this week. I’m not a captain, so whoever wants to pick me is more than welcome! I’m going to have fun and whoever our amateur is, we will give them a good week too.”
Elsewhere, defending champion Emily Kristine Pedersen will tee it up with England’s Hannah Burke, Finland’s Krista Bakker and amateur Ahmed Al Subaey.
Newly crowned 2021 Race to Costa del Sol champion Atthaya Thitikul picked Sarina Schmidt, who was part of the winning Team Cowan in London, and they will play with Scotland’s Heather Macrae and amateur Dahlo Kang.
Olivia Cowan set to repeat London performance
Winning captain from the Aramco Team Series – London, Olivia Cowan, is hopeful of another great week at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
The German has been in good form of late with a T7 finish at the Dubai Moonlight Classic followed by being in a tie for fifth place at last week’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF (ASLI).
Cowan, who is sixth in the Race to Costa del Sol, believed that by the end of last week’s competition she had got a handle on the greens and wants to take that confidence into the team event.
“I found the greens quite hard to read at the start of the week, but I think I’ve kind of understood them by the end of the week so hopefully I can take that into next week,” said the 25-year-old.
In the draft, Cowan selected Eswatini’s Nobuhle Dlamini, who finished T22 last week, with the random pick being Norway’s Madelene Stavnar and they will all play alongside amateur Loay Nazer.
Having led her team to a three-shot victory at Centurion Club back in July, Cowan knows what it takes to succeed in this format.
“I just want to have another good week here; I want to continue with some good golf and want to have some fun out there,” she continued.
Georgia Hall partners with Maha Haddioui
Georgia Hall will play with the Ladies European Tour’s first and only Arabic golfer, Maha Haddioui, after choosing the Moroccan from the event’s unique draft.
Hall was paired with Haddioui for Saturday’s round of last week’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF, where she was impressed by her play.
The pair will now unite as part of an innovative four-person team that includes Indian star Diksha Dagar, part of the winning team at the Aramco Team Series- London event, and an amateur.
Hall is hoping they can make history and provide a first win for any female Arabic golfer in the professional game.
What is the Aramco Team Series?
Sanctioned by the LET, the Aramco Team Series is the first of its kind on any tour. It sees the world’s best players compete in a team with amateurs for a $1 million prize fund.
In an NFL-style system, team captains pick one professional teammate, before being allocated a third at random. Completing each team is one amateur golfer.
As a full LET event, each tournament also carries World Ranking and Race to Costa del Sol – LET’s season-long competition to crown Europe’s leading golfer.
This week's tournament in Jeddah is the last on the series schedule, with events in London, Sotogrande and New York taking place before it.
