Maclaren opts out in stand on Saudi human rights

Meghan Maclaren, the leading Briton on last year’s Ladies European Tour, has withdrawn from the Saudi Ladies Championship in March because of her concerns over the kingdom “sports-washing” its human rights record.

Despite a $1 million (£770,000) prize fund at the event in Jeddah – the second biggest for a non-major on the Ladies European Tour – Maclaren said: “I’ve decided not to play based on what I think sport is being used to do in Saudi Arabia.”

When approached, Maclaren, 25, a two-time Tour winner, initially did not wish to comment for fear she would be seen “as lecturing other players”. However, she relented to outline her reasons.

“It’s far more complicated than any one individual, so it’s a personal decision,” she said. “Based on the research of organisations like Amnesty International, I couldn’t be comfortable as part of that process. We take for granted a lot of choices and freedoms we have, but I try to make decisions based on who I am as a person, not just a golfer.

“It’s a huge tournament for us, but this to me is about more than golf. I wish sport as a whole looked through a lens deeper than what benefits itself.”

Amnesty released a statement to The Daily Telegraph, which read: “Given the way the Saudi authorities are ramping up their involvement in major events to try to ‘sports-wash’ their abysmal human rights record, top-tier sportspeople may want to push back against efforts to use them in this kind of PR.”

Maclaren’s decision will inevitably shine a light on the top male professionals contesting the Saudi International this week, including world No1 Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, who are all being paid more than $1.5million (£1.15million) each simply to play.

Justin Rose will not return after playing in the inaugural tournament last year, but Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia and Shane Lowry are in the field.