In the end, the PGA Tour won’t be able to find a temporary home for Sentry.
The Tour announced on Wednesday that it would cancel its season opener in January, marking the first time the event has been completely canceled since the coronavirus pandemic. The league will instead open its 2026 season with the Sony Open in Hawaii on January 15th.
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Sentry typically begins its touring calendar season each January at the Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. However, the league announced last month that the event would no longer be held at the course due to Maui’s ongoing drought and water restrictions.
Both courses at Kapalua have been closed in recent months, at one point completely cutting off irrigation and causing significant damage and burning to the course. Later, the course’s ownership group also filed a lawsuit over the water fight. Kapalua announced Wednesday that play at the Plantation Course, considered one of the best public courses in the country, will resume Nov. 10.
The Tour had been exploring other options for this fall’s event, but has chosen not to hold the marquee event at all this season.
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Sentry was first founded in 1986 and moved to Hawaii and Plantation Course in 1999. It is usually the first stop on back-to-back tours in Hawaii, followed by the Sony Open the following week at Waialae Country Club on Oahu. Sentry Insurance has been the tournament’s title sponsor since 2019, and its contract runs through the 2035 season. At this time, it is unclear whether the tournament will be able to return to the Plantation Course in 2027. This is also Sony’s final year of title sponsorship at the Hawaii venue.
Chris Kirk improved to 29 under on tour last season and won at Sentry. Nick Taylor then won the Sony Open in Hawaii.
