Usually finishing around 2am on a Sunday night ahead of what was typically the first Monday back for most workers after the Christmas holidays, the Sentry Tournament of Champions – it was better when it was only PGA Tour winners from the previous year that got the invite – was far from ideal for European audiences, but there was something special about it all the same.
The ‘champions only’ requirement meant that, even with a field of 25-35, it was jam-packed with big names, and even though the pros would routinely eat up Kapalua and shoot ridiculously low scores, it provided more than its fair share of back nine drama in the final rounds.
The scenery is spectacular. Moloka’i, in the distance, looking eerily similar to Isla Nublar in Jurassic Park which, if you’re anything like me, you watched for the hundredth time in recent weeks, and the airship shots of surfers riding the waves were tonic for those of us locked inside in the bleak mid-winter.
I could take or leave the Sony Open at Waialae , the American Express Championship at La Quinta, even the Farmers Insurance at Torrey Pines if it didn’t have Tiger in the field, but the Sentry Tournament of Champions was one I never missed.
But, both literally and figuratively, I missed it this year as water restrictions on the island following last year’s tragic fires meant that the PGA Tour made the call early to shelve plans for the 2026 event. At the time, it was the only call to make really – and is still the right call as the water issue has not yet been solved – but ironically, reports from the ground on Maui suggest that the course has never been in better condition as it’s playing firm and fast. The one gripe with the tournament in years past is that the course has been too heavily watered, leading to the low scoring – Hideki Matsuyama won at -35 last year, a new PGA Tour record.
But that’s a debate for another day, as early indicators suggest that we may have seen the last of the Plantation Course at Kapalua as a PGA Tour venue.
It’s far from being confirmed, but the unofficial rumours are that the 2027 PGA Tour season will look markedly different. Harris English was the first to spill the beans, admitting that a revamped schedule in which the PGA Tour wouldn’t kick off until after the Super Bowl in early February was on the cards, and the lack of any suggestion to the contrary from PGA Tour leadership speaks volumes.
But sad as it will be to see Kapalua go – if indeed it does go – it will be a necessary sacrifice because, simply put, a more streamlined schedule raises the stakes. Less tournaments means less opportunities, and forces the players to be less choosy when it comes to where they tee it up.
I speak for most when I say that men’s professional golf is a far more interesting and engaging prospect when the best players in the world are all in the same field, and as long as the LIV standoff continues, we’re only going to get that at the major championships. Second prize is to have the best players on the PGA Tour all in the same fields on a more regular basis, and trimming four or five tournaments off the list moves us closer to that.
The DP World Tour could be a beneficiary as well. The Hero Dubai Desert Classic always attracts one of the strongest fields on the DP World Tour, but with no PGA Tour tournaments opposite or either side, would be a much more attractive prospect for other PGA Tour players looking to hit the ground running.
But there is a world in which an elevated Dubai Desert Classic and The Sentry at Kapalua could co-exist.
In 2027, the Super Bowl takes place on February 14th, and there is always a fortnight between the NFL’s Divisional Playoff Finals – the Super Bowl semi-finals, to simplify it – and the showpiece finale, meaning that there is an open window for the PGA Tour in which there is no NFL to compete with for TV viewers.
What better way to kickstart a golfing year than with the Dubai Desert Classic with the top Europeans, a generous sprinkling of big-name LIV golfers – if the fines issue can be solved – and a handful of PGA Tour stars all in attendance, then all of the PGA Tour’s big names at – a preferably firm – Kapalua a fortnight later.
Logistically, it’s more than feasible, and for the regular golf fan, it’s ideal.
After years of serving us a diluted product to keep the rank and file PGA Tour members happy, maybe it’s time we finally get what we deserve.
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