A recent photo of Kapalua from the resort shows perfect conditions.
Days to the Masters Honorary Starters Ceremony: 91
Days to the Chevron Championship first round: 105
Days to the PGA Championship first round: 126
Days to the U.S. Women’s Open first round: 147
Days to the Curtis Cup opening session: 155
Days to the U.S. Open first round: 161
Days to the KPMG Women’s PGA first round: 168
Days to The Open first round: 189
Days to the AIG Women’s Open first round: 203
Days to the Walker Cup opening session: 240
A recent New York Times story highlighted the importance of consistent sleep cycles and the negative impacts on health caused by an inconsistent schedule. Maintain the same bed and wake-up times—give or take a half hour—and the length of your night’s rest becomes less important. Or so some doctors believe.
American golf fans are familiar and maybe even dependent upon the PGA Tour’s consistent cycle in the months leading up to The Masters. One that has benefited players, fans, tournaments, communities, sponsors and networks. Some weeks deliver more excitement and bigger ratings thanks to courses or leaderboards, while other events are in a constant struggle to stand out. Adjustments have been made to work around the NFL. And tournaments have persevered. The consistency found in the Tour’s Hawaii-West Coast-Florida-Texas run through April has survived hostile threats and always turns up in January rested and ready, despite massive changes across the sports landscape.
Until this week.
Instead of season-opening golf from scenic and entertaining Kapalua, where the course is fully recovered from this summer’s water dispute, there is no opening tournament this week. Under the guise of not being able to make a limited field event work at Kapalua because of the murky water situation, the PGA Tour cancelled this week’s playing of The Sentry and seems on the cusp of ending its season-opening Hawaiian events starting in 2027. Other traditional stops, including some that built the Tour and which appear to be doing fine, may be in jeopardy even after modifying formats to accommodate players. Later in the year, tournaments played after majors may be moved, creating dead weeks on the schedule even when those are some of the most watched of the year thanks to residual major buzz.
The assorted people looking to deliver an 11% return for the Tour’s private equity investors have been dropping oldies-but-goodies: they’re ripping off Band-Aids, carving fat, and looking to deliver scarcity, paucity, simplicity, parity, or any other natural forms of Viagra for the money-is-everything types. Besides ignoring one of their buzzwords—the simplicity in knowing there will be a final round of high-level golf every Sunday afternoon—the masterminds seem oblivious to the value of a steady weekly schedule.
Just look at the TGL that many of the same people are invested in. While has some moments and potential, irregular match times set by network programmers have led to confusion over where and when to find it (no ESPN+ this year!). An inconsistent sleep cycle seems likely to doom the enterprise more than balky launch monitors or no one understanding how to use The Hammer.
Killing off events like The Sentry at Kapalua may do all sorts of strange things to the big picture well-being of the Tour’s “product.” Stuff that money folks would never understand or care about until it impacts the bottom line.
Some players turn up in Maui to knock off the rust and prepare for the season. Some go there to find out how they will fare on a certain kind of hilly course with 92 days before The Masters. And some players turn up ready to compete. Throw in some Humpbacks, tropical vibes, brilliant backdrops, drives that roll 125 yards, and Kapalua leaves everyone feeling ready for another year.
Throwing the Tour’s schedule into the wood chipper also risks the health of an already strained relationship with core fans and tournaments. While the PGA Tour’s week-to-week flow might seem bloated and wasteful to people from other sports with fixed venues, each tournament feeds into the next. Players build momentum. Fans get into a viewing rhythm or get excited about the circus coming to their town. It’s just good marketing.
Time will tell if the Tour goes through with some of the more extreme ideas floated. Or whether their media partners are willing to pay more for less “inventory.” But for serious fans and players who use Kapalua to find out where they stand, it’s concerning that new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and his bosses at the Strategic Sports Group may cede multiple weeks with little regard for the circadian rhythm of players and fans.
As reported last year by Golfweek, the LPGA Tour’s opening major is moving “closer to Chevron’s new corporate headquarters and the center of downtown Houston.”
Nothing gets the major championship vibes erupting like hearing that the event is moving closer to corporate’s new office building. Especially a major that moved out of California after 51 years without a venue confirmed, only to fizzle out after two years despite the best efforts of The Club at Carlton Woods (which received no recognition in the announcement).
Memorial Park was redesigned by architect Tom Doak with Brooks Koepka and continues to host the Houston Open in late March.
“The Chevron Championship’s move to Memorial Park Golf Course demonstrates our continued commitment to growing the game of women’s golf and expanding our presence in the City of Houston,” claimed Laura Lane, chief corporate affairs officer for Chevron. “For more than a century, Houston has been central to Chevron’s story. Collaborating with Memorial Park allows us to honor that legacy while advancing our commitment to women’s golf and giving back to the community.”
The Astros Golf Foundation will now operate the Chevron and is responsible for somehow differentiating two events at the same course within a month. Maybe they can lure Rob Manfred and The Trash Cans to do a post-Saturday performance of Bang The Drum. Sorry, I digress.
Let’s grow us some game.
“Chevron’s partnership continues to set a standard for what it means to invest in women’s golf — not just as a championship, but as a platform to inspire and grow the game,” said Craig Kessler, LPGA commissioner. “Moving The Chevron Championship to Memorial Park Golf Course strengthens that vision. It brings the event closer to the heart of Houston, connecting more fans and communities to our athletes, and helping ensure this major — a tradition that began in 1972 — continues to shine as one of the game’s most meaningful stages.”
Jim Crane, can you also help grow the game?
“The Astros Golf Foundation is proud to work alongside Chevron and the LPGA to amplify this major tournament and help more Houstonians experience world-class events in the heart of the city,” the Astros owner said. “This event will highlight the incredible talent of the LPGA, and advance the growth and reach of women’s golf — a mission we are proud to support.”
We’ll give him a minor points deduction for not using a pure “grow the game.” But well done nonetheless.
The Chevron Championship is scheduled from April 23-26, 2026.
In a year-end press release, the Governing Board of the Official World Golf Ranking announced that it’s reviewing LIV Golf’s application while announcing a change to how 54-hole events will be treated within the ranking’s calculation.
Instead of full points for a scheduled or curtailed 54-hole event, the OWGR now will offer 75% of the “of the original calculated Field Rating and Ranking Points Distribution.” And if it’s really raining hard, events shortened to 36-holes will see a 50% off calculation.
“In its extensive review of Ranking, the Governing Board determined that events comprised of less than 72 holes needed to be addressed,” said Chairman Trevor Immelman. “Adjustments are always made following careful consideration, and the OWGR will continue to monitor ways in which it can update and enhance the operation of the Ranking in its pursuit of fulfilling its Mission.”
The power of YouTube: two weeks ago the 2025 Masters final round broadcast—all seven hours-plus—was posted to YouTube at the official tournament account. There was widespread social media euphoria and 322,000 views since even though the full broadcast has been available on Masters.com and the Masters app since Sunday, April 13th.
Last month, the official films for most of the majors debuted on Golf Channel and Sky Sports to little fanfare. Now all but the KPMG Women’s PGA are posted to YouTube. Enjoy!
Eugenio Chacarra speaking to Today’s Golfer Michael Catling on why he departed LIV Golf for the DP World Tour, where he’s exempt after winning the Hero Indian Open. “I wanted to play in majors and be in contention for the Ryder Cup. I love competing, but not just for 13 weeks a year. I want to play 30 or 25-plus [events], so that’s one of the things I want to move forward towards. Once you win out there, like I did, your life doesn’t change that much. You don’t get into majors, you don’t get a chance to be in the Ryder Cup, you don’t get a chance to play a lot of events. That affected me as a player and I lost motivation. So me and my team thought the best way to move forward was to try to get on the DP World Tour, win on there, and then work my way up to the PGA Tour. It might take us one year, it might take us six years, but that’s the goal.”
Rory McIlroy on Keegan Bradley’s handling of Ryder Cup crowds during a visit to the Stick To Football podcast. “Keegan and I have talked about this. I think you have to play into the home field advantage, absolutely. But I think, during the competition on Friday night and Saturday night, after the stuff that we heard on the course, I think there was an opportunity for either Keegan or some of the teammates to be like, you know, let’s just calm down here, let’s try to play this match in the right spirit. And some of them did that, but obviously Keegan had the biggest platform of the week of being the captain, and I feel like he could have said something on that Friday or Saturday night and he didn’t. But in fairness, Sunday was a little bit better, it seemed like the rhetoric was sort of calmed down a bit.”
McIlroy on rules for wearing the Green Jacket off property as the reigning Masters champion. “You have to wear a certain shirt, and you have to wear a club tie, and certain trousers, you only wear dress shoes. You can’t wear trainers. You can’t just throw it on, go for the bevy…but that’s what makes it such a great place…they know who they are, and they stick to it. And it’s also one of the reasons that they have one of the best brands in sport. It’s because they are so meticulous, and they do everything in such a way.”
In an email to Masters patrons, the tournament announced that a 2026 badge will cost $525, a $75 increase from the price from 2023-2025. (Stutsman/Golfweek)
The USGA announced its annual service awards. The Joe Dey goes to Jerry Lemieux, of Toledo, Ohio who has served as a USGA Committee member for 19 years and has worked as a respected rules official at the U.S. Open and Walker Cup. The USGA Green Section Award has been given to Paul Latshaw, Sr., of Stroudsburg, Pa., and Stephen Proctor was named the winner of the Herbert Warren Wind Award for Matchless: Joyce Wethered, Glenna Collett and the Rise of Women’s Golf.
The National Links Trust is asking supporters to voice their support for the mission of restoring Washington D.C.’s public golf courses by contacting government officials: email your Senators or House representatives, contact Department of the Interior, or the Regional Director of the National Park Service, who oversees their courses, Jen Nersesian.
In its first three days of trading, Golf Channel parent Versant lost more than 25% of its market value. NBCUniversal’s cable channel spinoff’s rough start has been driven in part by large index funds “that held big positions in Comcast, and for which Versant does not meet their strict investment guidelines.” As The Quad went to press, the stock was up 3% on Thursday. (MarketWatch)
Neil Coulson, who has been at the helm of the St Andrews Links Trust since 2021, announced his resignation effective this spring and is taking an undisclosed position in the United States. (Warrender/The Courier)
With the demise of Washington Road’s Hooters, John Daly will now be signing his curated, artisanal, small-batch merchandise offerings at Top Dawg Tavern during Masters week. (WRDW/Augusta)
Images posted to the Links Trust’s Instagram showing the Old Course covered in snow:
St Andrews Links on Instagram: “There’s snow place like Home.
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🏌🏼♂️ Tom Kershaw on Thomas Detry and Elvis Smiley joining LIV after strong 2025 seasons.
🔖 Alan Bastable talks to Steve Rintoul about six rules modifications coming to PGA Tour play, including an end to the club-length relief abuse when preferred lies are invoked.
⛳️ Andrew Penner played and photographed Kapalua’s Plantation Course in mid-December and found the course to be in fantastic condition.
🤮 Brendan Porath on the questionable reasons for abandoning the Hawaii kickoff events and what it says about the misplaced priorities of pro sports.
🏌️John Turnbull on the age-old controversy of Vijay Singh turning up at a PGA Tour event next week and long past his prime.
🧐 Iain Carter with an A-Z preview of the 2026 season.
🤔 Garrett Morrison explains some of the finer points of the cancelled National Links Trust lease and the termination claims by the Trump Administration.
🍕Heather Haddon on numbers showing that pizza may have peaked with Americans.
💉 Jasmine Sun on the tech world’s embrace of “Chinese peptides” as a biohack.
🏓 Esther Zuckerman on the efforts to get Marty Supreme’s table tennis scenes right, including insights into how the sponge racket shortened points and made the sport less interesting.
Have a great weekend watching the golf from Kapalua!