Will The Sentry be played in '26? This insider says 'there's just no time for planning'

When Mark Rolfing says he doesn’t expect the Sentry to be played in 2026, consider that a bad sign for those hoping that the long-running season-opening PGA Tour stop since 1999 would find a temporary home for next season. The tournament held in Maui is in this predicament due to an ongoing water dispute that forced the PGA Tour to pull the plug on regular host Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course, which has faced significant irrigation water restrictions, last month. 

Rolfing, who is known as “Mr. Hawaii” and the ultimate insider related to anything associated with the two PGA Tour stops in the 50^th state, made his comments on the latest episode of The Fried Egg podcast, which was posted on Thursday.

“I don’t think there is any scenario where the Sentry can be played in 2026,” Rolfing said. “There’s all these conversations about why couldn’t we play somewhere else? The schedule is basically full. We’re 85 days away from the start of the tournament. It’s just too late. There’s just no time for planning.”

Rolfing, who is best known as a longtime NBC/Golf Channel analyst, cut his teeth at Kapalua Resort and still makes his home there. The sister Bay Course reportedly hasn’t been watered in more than a month and is burned out, with all limited resources being directed to the Plantation in hopes of saving it and potentially reopening to resort guests. The course’s ownership group has sued Maui Land & Pineapple Company over the water being cut off. A countersuit also has been filed, and Rolfing suggested it will be a long, tedious process before a resolution is reached. 

The Tour has been searching for a replacement site to relocate the $20 million Signature event, which features a field of winners from the previous year and those who finished among the top 50 in the final FedEx Cup standings. While no decision has officially been made, the clock is ticking, and finding a location, venue and date is proving to be difficult. Rolfing's declaration may prove accurate for an event won by Hideki Matsuyama in January, picking up his 11th PGA Tour win. 

Sentry is signed on as the title sponsor through 2035, and while the 2026 tournament in Maui has been lost, the bigger question is what about 2027 and beyond?

“We need to really start thinking about 2027 for the Sentry and for the Sony Open [played a week later],” Rolfing said. “Those two are joined at the hip in a way. And how do we overcome the issues that are starting to magnify themselves that are going to make it more complicated for Hawaii?”