PRE-TOURNAMENT PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT FEATURING SHANNON TAN, MIMI RHODES AND RUIXIN LIU

Shannon Tan, Mimi Rhodes and Ruixin Liu are set to tee off at the PIF Saudi Ladies International, the first event on the PIF Global Series in 2026. Tan and Rhodes, the 2025 LET Order of Merit winner and runner‑up respectively, reviewed their 2025 seasons, while Liu, the 2025 Aramco China Championship winner, reflected on the impact of Golf Saudi on the women’s game.

Q: Shannon, coming off an outstanding season where you won the LET Order of Merit, how has your preparation been coming into this event? 

Shannon Tan: I just felt like time off was quite mandatory after having a long season last year. So I went home, saw my family and friends, and spent Christmas and New Years at home, so that was really nice. And then I went to Australia for about three weeks and saw my coach and physio, and gym trainer. Then just worked on stuff that needed to be worked on, looking at what happened last year, and then pretty much grinded January out. And then now I'm here.  

Q: This is your third year playing the Saudi Ladies International. How much do you enjoy playing on the PIF Global Series, especially here at Riyadh Golf Club. 

Shannon Tan: I really like the PIF Global Series. It used to be a team event, and I quite liked it but I think it's quite nice knowing the PIF has been very supportive towards the game and towards women's golf, and the field is always really strong, and the prize purse is good as well. It's always a great event, and it's an event that I always look forward to in my schedule. And I think about Riyadh Golf Club, I think I've played here four times, and so now I know what to expect. I’ve been working on things in the off season that I know will help going into this week. 

Q: Can you give away any secrets about how to defeat Riyadh Golf Club? 

Shannon Tan: I would say that long hitters do get an advantage. So I've been trying to work on my swing speed in the off season, just trying to hit it as hard as I can and to not care where it goes, because I feel like, for me, I'm so conscious about how straight I hit it. So I've been focusing on just trying to gain some yardage, and that will definitely be an advantage. And I think just short game, the rough here can be thick and quite sticky, so I've just worked on technique. 

Q: Mimi, what is your tactic going into this week? 

Mimi Rhodes: Yeah, I mean, this is my third time here, so I pretty much know what to expect on the golf course as well, and I can tell that they've done a lot of work to improve the course, like the greens are rolling really nice. I think I've had enough practice and it’s pretty straightforward, if you're going to hit the fairways, then it's a really big advantage, because, if you get a bad lie on the rough, then it's a no go. But I'm just really focused on the putting and the greens. I think it's going to be a make a really big difference between making birdies or not so, that's been the main goal.  

Q: 2025 was another phenomenal year for you, Mimi - you played all of the PIF Global Series events last year, how do you feel personally on the Series' impact? 

Mimi Rhodes: It's huge. It's been a massive change to the LET especially, and, I think all the players are so excited when you know there's five a year, so it's really exciting, and I feel like we can plan our game to peak at those times because they're the more important ones. And like Shannon said about the team event, part of it like that was so much fun, and it kind of pushed you to make birdies, but I think it's great that they made it a four round event, because it kind of shows who are the more consistent players or not, so it's great for women's golf and the LET.  

Q: Winning three individual titles last year, what has that taught you about yourself and your game? 

Mimi Rhodes: It was a really good thing and a negative thing at the same time, because I got them so early on in the year that my mentality kind of changed and I put a few more expectations on myself. And when you win three times so early on in the year, you kind of think, how easy it is to win, but you have to just change your expectations accordingly. I saw the results at the back end of the year, and I got better. It's just an important thing to just stay positive out there and just take one day at a time and not get ahead of yourself and keep chasing those wins, because they'll come if you're doing the right stuff. 

Q: Ruixin, winning basically in your back garden at Mission Hills, take us back to that moment and what the winning experience was there? 

Ruixin Liu: Well, last year, that was pretty much my last tournament of the year, and I didn't really have a great season on the LPGA. I kept my card, but I think that win almost made me feel more confident. And so coming from that one, I didn't play any golf in the last three months, I had a great off-season. So for this week, I think I’m just going to take it slowly. It's my first time playing this golf course, so I'm still kind of confused on some of the holes. So I think my strategy is just to have fun with my dad out there and just try to figure it out. 

Q: Does coming into Riyadh as the most recent winner on this series, give you extra confidence? 

Ruixin Liu: I wouldn't say that. I always treat each win as an individual. I don't feel any difference on the next time I play after I win, as I feel like the course is different. But I do think my game is up there. So I just have to get the feeling back after a three month break, so I feel pretty relaxed this week. 

Q: Mimi, this event carries one of the larger prize funds of $5 million - what does a win early on in the season with a prize fund of that nature represent for what the rest of the season can look like?  

Mimi Rhodes: A lot of spending! But no, obviously, if you win one of these, you take that pressure off of yourself, because, at the end of the day, we're trying to make a living out here, and if you get that done early, then it takes the pressure off, and you're more focused on wanting to win instead of wanting to win because of the prize money. 

Q: Shannon, you're the first Singaporean to win on the LET, the first to play in the Olympics, and the first to be named Player of the Year. There seems to be in a massive surge of interest in Singapore because of you. How does it feel to carry that expectation at your young age? 

Shannon Tan: It is definitely a big honour. First of all, to just represent Singapore. It's also good just knowing that I've got the support of a lot of Singaporeans back home, golfers or non golfers, and just to know that the whole country is behind you when you're out competing in so many different countries and continents. And it's always a good feeling going home for me. Like I went to practice when I was home, everyone was just coming up to me, saying well done for the year. So it's really nice just knowing that you have people looking out for you and supporting you, and wanting the best for you. 

Q: This week, off the course, Golf Saudi has a number of initiatives focused on bringing young people from Saudi into the game. What advice would you give young girls in particular, who are taking up the sport, as they take their first steps? 

Ruixin Liu: I feel like Golf Saudi is just really putting women's golf out there, and that's something that has never been done like this before, so I do feel the support. And when we play the golf course, you can see the support and that just shows how much we mean to them. It doesn't make us feel lesser than the men. I just feel like it's a great opportunity for us, for the tour and for the future of women's golf. 

Shannon Tan: It's always good to see juniors and people willing and wanting to take up golf and trying out even just as a sport. It's nice just seeing more people getting interested in the game. It's really good to just see Golf Saudi's passion for the game. But if it's advice to give, more personally, I think the most important thing for me is just to have fun. Even for me, when I'm out there, I feel like the weeks I play better are the weeks I enjoy myself out there a bit more. So I think that's always just important to just have fun.  

Mimi Rhodes: How much they're pushing golf here, I would say, just take advantage of the facilities that you have. And at the end of the day, you want to have fun out there. And I think it's really nice to be around people that are also your age and just make sure you're having fun with them in groups, because, it's not so fun by yourself, but you've got great weather here, and the facilities here are really good, and they're getting better every year we come back. So just take advantage of them.