PGA Tour shakes up schedule with Sony Open to tee off 2026 season, axes The Sentry

The PGA Tour on Thursday announced a major shakeup to the upcoming 2026 season. In a statement published on the Tour's website, it was revealed that the Sony Open in Hawaii would kick off the 2026 season instead of The Sentry.

Before making this announcement, the PGA Tour revealed last month that The Sentry was not going to be played at The Plantation Course due to ongoing drought conditions in Hawaii among other challenges. While an alternate venue was being searched, the Tour has decided to scrap the event.

Speaking about the same, PGA Tour Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis said (via PGA Tour.com):

“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… 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.”

The Sentry has historically been an important event. It has served as the season opener from 1986 to 2013, and once again returned to be the season opener in 2024.

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Varun is a Golf and MLB journalist for Sportskeeda with over 4 years of work experience in his bag. He has a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, and has worked for many sites, including EssentiallySports, FanSided, Khel Now, Get Football, and a few others.

Varun is a fan of golfer Scottie Scheffler due to the latter’s mindset, and he admires Aaron Judge and his ability to keep being consistent. As a purist golf fan, he would love to compete at the Masters if given the opportunity, but is also happy with LIV Golf driving more eyeballs towards the sport. If he gets the chance to play for an MLB team, he would love to play for the New York Yankees.

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Varun likes to spend his free time reading or writing poetry and fiction. He also plans to learn and play golf in his spare time.

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Edited by Varun Anand Bhat