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The PGA Tour has canceled its $20 million season-opening event, one month after announcing The Sentry would not be played at its longtime Maui home, due to ongoing drought conditions and water conservation requirements.
Formerly known as the Tournament of Champions, The Sentry was originally set to tee off the 2026 PGA Tour schedule, as it does every year, Jan. 8–11 at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort.
But on Sept. 2, Kapalua Resort closed both the Plantation Course and Bay Course in an effort to restore turf health after prolonged irrigation restrictions. Kapalua’s golf courses deteriorated over the summer from lack of sufficient water, which led to the resort’s owner, TY Management Corporation (led by Japanese billionaire Tadashi Yanai), suing Maui Land & Pineapple, a publicly traded land holding and operating company that was limiting how much water the resort was getting.
On Wednesday, the PGA Tour said in a statement, “After assessing alternate venues in Hawaii and beyond, the Tour determined it would not be able to contest The Sentry in 2026 because of logistical challenges—including shipping deadlines, tournament infrastructure and vendor support.”
The 2026 PGA Tour season will now begin a week later at the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu Jan. 15-18. The purse for that event has not been announced, but last year it was $8.7 million.
The Sentry was one of nine signature events on the 2026 PGA Tour schedule that have limited fields and $20 million purses. Players that were eligible for The Sentry via a 2025 tournament win—but did not finish inside the top 50 of the 2025 FedExCup standings and therefore not eligible for all signature events—will be eligible for a different $20 million tournament: the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head April 16-19.
There are now once again eight signature events on the 2026 schedule, with a new $20 million event at Trump Doral added to the mix in August. The first one will now come at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Feb. 12-15.
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