The PGA Tour’s season-opening tournament, The Sentry, is officially canceled.
The tour announced the news to players and constituents on Wednesday. The Sentry was originally scheduled to take place from January 8-11, 2026. But last month, the tour shared that it would not be contested at Kapalua’s Plantation Course, its host venue since 1999, due to ongoing drought conditions on the island of Maui.
The tour cited conservation mandates and prioritized the local community’s water supply in its initial announcement, stating that “additional event information will be shared when appropriate.”
That led to speculation that the tournament would be relocated to another course; the event will instead be removed from the 2026 PGA Tour schedule altogether. According to a person briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly, significant efforts were made to find a temporary new home for the tournament. It was ultimately deemed impossible to relocate for multiple reasons, including sponsor preferences and course availability. Any replacement venue would have had to be suitable for a PGA Tour event from weather, playability, and infrastructure standpoints, while also being willing to host at a peak tourism time of the calendar.
The 2026 PGA Tour season will begin on Jan. 15 with a non-signature event, the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club.
“Since it first became a possibility that the PGA Tour would not be able to play at The Plantation Course at Kapalua due to the ongoing drought conditions on Maui, we worked closely with our partners at Sentry to assess options for contesting The Sentry in 2026,” said Tyler Dennis, Chief Competitions Officer at the tour, in a statement. “While it is unfortunate to arrive at this decision, we are appreciative of the collaboration and dedication from Sentry Insurance, a tremendous partner of ours.”
Stopped by Kapalua today and the course looks totally dead. Can’t fathom how much business this water dispute is costing them. pic.twitter.com/N6OIkd3oQR
— Dan Back (@dan_back) October 7, 2025
As precedent, the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational was forced to move venues earlier this year due to the widespread fires in Los Angeles that ravaged the neighborhoods surrounding Riviera Country Club. The event was instead contested at Torrey Pines in San Diego, the host site of the Farmers Insurance Open.
It is not immediately clear what this means for The Sentry’s future as a tournament, but the sponsor’s relationship with the PGA Tour is tied to a contract that runs through 2035.
The PGA Tour collaborated closely with Hawaii Governor Josh Green on the decision to cancel the tournament.
The Sentry is one of the PGA Tour’s big-money signature events and typically boasts one of the strongest regular-season fields of the year. Hideki Matsuyama is the defending champion. Formally known as the Sentry Tournament of Champions, The Sentry field includes all of the PGA Tour winners of the past season, in addition to players who finished in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup.
As an adjustment for the tournament cancellation, the tour announced that players who did not finish the 2025 season in the FedEx Cup top 50, but won tournaments in 2025, will instead be eligible for another Signature event — the RBC Heritage in April.
The Sentry also held a unique place in the hearts of golf fans, as not just the first tournament of the new season but one that aired in primetime on the East Coast and showcased a tropical locale at a time of the year when many fans were stuck inside due to winter weather.
The 2026 PGA Tour schedule will now feature eight signature events instead of nine, including a new tournament, The Miami Championship at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster course in late April.
The first signature event will be the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in the second week of February.
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