The inaugural tournament of the 2026 PGA Tour season has lost its venue due to water usage issues at the Kapalua Resort, in Maui. And now, it seems there is a strong possibility that the tournament may not take place at all.
Although officially the PGA Tour maintains that it is still seeking an alternative venue to relocate The Sentry, Mark Rolfing considers it quite likely that the circuit will cancel the event and start the season on the neighbouring island of Oahu with the Sony Open.
Rolfing, unofficial ambassador of the tournament and long-time Hawaii resident, commented on a podcast hosted by Andy Johnson for Fried Egg Golf that efforts should focus on ensuring the long-term health of the event in Hawaii. Sentry has an agreement as the main sponsor until 2035.
“I don’t think there is any scenario in which the Sentry can be played in 2026,” said Rolfing. “There is a lot of talk about why we couldn’t play elsewhere. The schedule is basically full. We are 85 days from the start of the tournament. It’s simply too late. There’s no time to plan.”
The tournament formerly known as the Tournament of Champions has been held at the Plantation Course (par 73) in Kapalua since 1999. It gathers the previous year’s PGA Tour winners, as well as those who finished in the top 50 of the final FedEx Cup standings, making it a designated event with a purse of 20 million dollars.
The PGA Tour announced on 17 September that the tournament could not be played at Kapalua due to the persistent drought and a water dispute with local authorities that has resulted in lawsuits and a golf course that appears to be in poor condition. The circuit then indicated that it would try to relocate the event, which was won last January by Hideki Matsuyama. One of the venues that has been considered, according to Ten Golf, is the Trump International in Doral.
Cancelling the tournament from 8 to 11 January would be an unusual decision for the PGA Tour. Except during the 2020 pandemic, tournaments are rarely cancelled. Last year, the circuit moved the Genesis Invitational from Los Angeles to San Diego with less than a month’s notice due to fires affecting the Riviera Country Club.
The big difference in that case was that Torrey Pines was already hosting the Farmers Insurance Open. The infrastructure was already in place. Relocating the Sentry now, even with two months to prepare, poses numerous logistical challenges. At the beginning of January, it is difficult to find a place that can host a PGA Tour tournament. And although the circuit certainly does not want to lose sponsorship and television rights revenue, the cost of relocating and securing a new venue could be prohibitive. Doral, Florida, would be a good option.
“We understand what has happened and we have to start thinking seriously about 2027 for the Sentry and for the Sony Open (which is played a week later),” said Rolfing. Hawaii used to have more than ten professional golf tournaments, a bounty that has been reduced to four. He is concerned that, with rumours of contraction in the PGA Tour, Hawaii — especially at the beginning of the calendar in January — could be left out.
Overall, it’s a hard blow for Maui, for the resort, for the players who qualified — especially for those who won tournaments and, therefore, are not eligible by other means for the designated events. It’s also not ideal for the Sony Open. With only one Hawaiian tournament, some of the big names may skip it as they are no longer in the vicinity. Logistically, moving from Florida to Hawaii is not easy.
A decision on the tournament’s fate is expected shortly.
