Andy DevaneyFive years ago, Ana Peláez Triviño was taking her first steps as a professional golfer at the Aramco Team Series in Sotogrande. On Sunday, 8 November, she was lifting the Aramco China Championship trophy in Shenzhen, having saved her best golf for the moment it mattered most.
The 28-year-old Spaniard signed off with an eight-under-par 64 at Mission Hills Resort Shenzhen, completing a four-stroke victory over China’s Liqi Zeng and England’s Mimi Rhodes.
It was quite a way to bring the curtain down on the 2026 PIF Global Series. And for Peláez Triviño, the result carried a little more significance than another tournament victory.
Five Years From Professional Debut to Champion
Peláez Triviño made her professional debut at the Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande in August 2021, beginning a journey that brought her back to the same tournament platform five years later, this time as a champion.
Her closing 64 was the lowest round reported at the Aramco China Championship, securing the season-ending title against an international field competing for a US$2 million prize fund.
There is something rather fitting about winning on the circuit where your professional career began. Particularly when you do it with an eight-under-par final round and leave the chasing pack four shots behind.
Yet Peláez Triviño was keen to emphasise that the value of tournaments such as this extends beyond the prize money.
“The $2 million is nice, but I think everything that goes around $2 million is even better. It’s not only prize money, but also everything. TV coverage, playing the best golf courses around the world, the media, and everything that builds around this event.”
For players on the Ladies European Tour, those opportunities for exposure and competition are an important part of the attraction.
Liqi Zeng and Mimi Rhodes Share Second Place
Behind the Spanish winner, China’s Liqi Zeng and England’s Mimi Rhodes finished tied for second at 16-under-par, having both mounted final-day challenges.
There was also an encouraging performance from 16-year-old Chinese amateur Yujie Liu, who finished alone in fourth at 15-under.
Liu’s result was particularly noteworthy given the strength of the field and the experience of the professionals around her.
The championship was co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET) and China LPGA Tour (CLPGA), bringing together established international competitors and emerging Chinese talent.
For the home players, it provided an opportunity to compete against an international field without leaving China. Liu certainly made good use of it.
A Bigger Stage for Women’s Golf
The Aramco China Championship brought the 2026 PIF Global Series to a close, with organisers reporting participation from players representing 32 countries.
According to Golf Saudi and Aramco, television coverage of the finale was distributed to more than 100 countries, giving the tournament an audience well beyond Shenzhen.
That international visibility was something Peláez Triviño highlighted when discussing the importance of the series to players on the LET.
The week also included grassroots coaching clinics involving hundreds of aspiring junior golfers from across China’s Greater Bay Area.
Such initiatives form part of the organisers’ stated ambition to develop women’s golf, although the longer-term value will ultimately be measured by the opportunities they create for players coming through.
A Fitting Finish in Shenzhen
For Golf Saudi and Aramco, the championship concluded another season of investment in the women’s professional game. For Peláez Triviño, it was a far more personal occasion.
She arrived on the Aramco-backed circuit as a new professional in August 2021. Five years later, she has a China Championship title to show for the journey.
The prize fund, television coverage and international stage all matter. But tournaments are still decided by what happens between the ropes.
And on the final Sunday in Shenzhen, nobody did it better than Ana Peláez Triviño.
