The PGA Tour is still attempting to find a place to relocate the annual season-opening Sentry tournament that will not be played in Hawaii at the start of 2026 due to watering issues at the Kapalua Resort on Maui.
No decision has been made but longtime NBC and Golf Channel analyst Mark Rolfing, who has been associated with the tournament for years and lives part of the year in Hawaii, said on a podcast this week that he believes the event will not be staged.
Speaking to Andy Johnson on the Fried Egg Golf podcast, Rolfing suggested that time is running out to find a suitable replacement and that efforts need to shift to ensuring the long-term health of the event in Hawaii. Sentry is contracted as the title sponsor through 2035.
“I don’t think there is any scenario where the Sentry can be played in 2026,” said Rolfing, who has served as a quasi-ambassador for the tournament. “There’s all these conversations about why couldn’t we play somewhere else. The schedule is basically full. We’re 85 days away from the start of the tournament. It’s just too late. There’s just no time for planning.”
What used to be called the Tournament of Champions has been played at the Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course since 1999. It brings together PGA Tour winners from the previous year as well as those who finished among the top 50 in the final FedEx Cup standings, making it a $20 million Signature event.
The Tour announced on Sept. 17 that the event would not be played at Kapalua due to ongoing drought conditions and a water dispute that the resort is having with local authorities.
At the time, the Tour said it would seek to move the tournament, which was won in January by Hideki Matsuyama.
Cancelling the Jan. 8–11 event would almost be unprecedented outside of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the Tour moved the Genesis Invitational from Los Angeles to San Diego in less than a month due to the wildfires that impacted Riviera Country Club.
But early January is a difficult time to find a place that can accommodate a PGA Tour event, which could be among several logistical problems in the works.
So far, the PGA Tour maintains that no final decision has been made.
“We understand what happened and we need to really start thinking about 2027 for the Sentry and for the Sony Open [played a week later],” Rolfing said. “Those two are joined at the hip in a way. And how do we overcome the issues that are starting to magnify themselves that are going to make it more complicated for Hawaii.”
Rolfing was discussing the issues that have seen the state have more than 10 professional golf tournaments pared down to just four.
In the short term, however, the PGA Tour’s mission is to stage the tournament somewhere, if possible. It garners significant sponsorship fees from Sony and television rights fees from Golf Channel that would be greatly reduced with no event.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Commentator Suggests PGA Tour Event May Not Be Held in 2026.