The PGA Tour will cancel its season opener at Sentry as a substitute of discovering a alternative course in water-starved Kapalua, Maui, marking the primary time a match has been canceled for the reason that 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
The Sony Open in Honolulu would be the first match of 2026 from January 15-18, making it the newest begin to the PGA Tour because it was based in 1969.
The tour and Wisconsin-based Sentry Insurance coverage have been contemplating different programs to host the $20 million signature occasion for PGA Tour winners and the highest 50 FedEx Cup finishers. As a substitute, they selected to not play it in any respect.
“We’re actually pleased with Sentry’s progress, and we could not have requested for extra 26 years,” stated Stephanie Smith, Sentry’s chief advertising and marketing and model officer who oversees the golf partnership, which started in 2018. The sponsorship will proceed till 2035.
“We did not need it to simply be, ‘Discover us a spot in your schedule to host it,’ or ‘Discover us a course to host it.’ I needed Sentry to proceed to be the gem that it’s,” Smith stated. “We needed it to be particular, and when that did not occur, we felt we had no different alternative.
“This isn’t the end result we needed, however sadly it’s the place we’re.”
Kapalua needed to shut two programs on drought-stricken Maui (the Plantation Course has hosted the PGA Tour since 1999) because of extreme water restrictions introduced on by a dispute with the corporate that manages its century-old water system.
The Sony Open is in its last yr of title sponsorship, and it’s uncertain whether or not Hawaii will probably be added to the PGA Tour schedule after this yr.
The tour introduced the cancellation of The Sentry on the identical day, and Kapalua introduced that the Plantation Course would resume play on Nov. 10 and tee instances might be booked beginning Thursday for a promotional fee of $399. Two of the 18 greens are nonetheless being repaired.
The Sentry has been the primary occasion on the PGA Tour yearly since 1999, aside from 2001, when the season started with the World Golf Championship in Australia. Among the gamers within the area at Kapalua typically headed to Oahu for the Sony Open.
Seven PGA Tour winners, together with Aldrich Potgieter and Minu Lee, didn’t end within the high 50 at FedEx Cup. The tour stated it is going to be added to the sector at RBC Heritage in Hilton Head the week after the Masters to make up for the absence at Kapalua.
Kapalua proprietor Tadashi Yanai, a Japanese billionaire who based the clothes model Uniqlo, Kapalua householders and Huamomona Farms filed a lawsuit in opposition to Maui Land & Pineapple in August, alleging that the water supply system was not maintained.
MLP filed a countersuit, and the 2 sides have been exchanging accusations ever since.
Two weeks in the past, Hawaii’s Water Sources Commissioner issued a discover of penalty totaling $11 million to MLP for alleged water system violations. MLPs have till November 8 to reply.
In the meantime, Kapalua’s two programs turned from emerald inexperienced to yellow because of water restrictions and have been closed for not less than two months in September to save lots of the programs. The tour introduced on September 16 that they’d not be capable to carry out “The Sentry” at Kapalua.
Smith didn’t say which different programs are into consideration. A yr in the past, the Genesis Invitational was pressured to relocate from the Los Angeles Riviera because of lethal wildfires within the Pacific Palisades. That yr, we moved our base to Torrey Pines, the place all of the infrastructure was nonetheless in place from when the PGA Tour occasion was held three weeks earlier.
“After contemplating various venues in and round Hawaii, we now have decided that because of logistical points together with delivery deadlines, match infrastructure and vendor assist, we’re unable to compete within the 2026 Sentry,” the tour stated in a press release.
Sentry has the longest title sponsorship settlement on tour. A call has not but been made as as to whether he’ll return to Kapalua in 2027, however a revamped schedule is anticipated to carry important adjustments that yr.
Tiger Woods heads the Futures Competitors Committee, which shapes the tour. That committee will meet for the primary time quickly.
Requested about Sentry’s future on Maui in 2027, Smith stated, “It is onerous to say at this level.”
“We’re absolutely dedicated to taking part in ‘The Sentry,’” she stated. “We all know from conversations with the tour that The Sentry will probably be on the schedule. There are such a lot of components at play proper now. What is going on on on the island? Will the water problem be resolved? Will the course be playable? What’s going to occur to the pending litigation?”
“We had a very good dialog,” she stated. “We’re dedicated to taking part in Sentry once more on the stage we now have recognized.”
The Sony Open would be the seventh match for the reason that tour’s inception, beginning that yr.
