Winning on the FedExCup Fall portion of the PGA Tour used to come with a lot more than it does now: starting the season in Kapalua for The Sentry, a spot in the Masters in April and a two-year exemption from the Tour.
There is still the two-year exemption.
Augusta National changed its criteria to remove an automatic spot for fall winners, instead relying on winners of six designated national openers around the world.
Kapalua is due out this year due to water shortages due to drought and accusations that a centuries-old water supply system has fallen into disrepair. The Plantation course closed on September 2 and the PGA Tour decided it could not be completed in time for the season opener.
The Tour announced a month ago that Kapalua would not host The Sentry this year, and it seems more likely that this year’s tournament will simply be canceled rather than move to a temporary location on the West Coast or in Florida.
The next step would be what to do with players like Steven Fisk, who won the Sanderson Farms for his first PGA Tour victory, along with players like William Mouw and Karl Vilips, who won tournaments this year but didn’t crack the top 50 in the FedExCup.
There are plenty of moving pieces, but the fall schedule for the 2026 Tour season is starting to take shape.
One chance is that they’ll find another $20 million signature event to play, whether that’s Pebble Beach (which already has an 80-player field to host the pro-am) or they get their choice of event.
A cancellation would mean the Sony Open (Jan. 15-18) would be the PGA Tour calendar opener for the first time, the seventh tournament to receive the distinction. It would also be the last start to a PGA Tour year since the modern era began in 1969.
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