PGA Tour not returning to Hawaii in 2027

Kapalula Golf Course (YouTube)

The PGA Tour will not be returning to Hawaii at all in 2027 according to The Garden Island on Monday. The decision means that there will be an estimated $150 million loss in visitor industry revenue for the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Maui. It is interesting one of the reasons for the PGA Tour’s decision also came down to finances. It became extremely expensive for equipment to be shipped to Hawaii according to the Associated Press. 

The Tournament of Champions had been in Maui since 1999. Throughout the tournament’s history, the field primarily only consisted of players who won on the PGA Tour the year before. When the tournament included players who had qualified for The Tour Championship and then then the top 50 players in the world, the Tournament of Championship lost its significance and appeal.

One problem with the Kapalua course is that it played too easy. Three times in the last decade players won the tournament with a score of -30 or lower. Jordan Spieth of Dallas, Texas won the tournament in 2016 with a score of -30, Cameron Smith of Logan City, Australia won in 2022 with a score of -34 and Hideki Matsuyama of Matsuyama, Japan set the PGA Tour record with the lowest four hole score ever on the PGA Tour at -35 in 2025.

It should be noted that the problems with the Kapalua course started a year ago. The 2026 tournament was cancelled because of a water delivery system problem.

The PGA Tour made the interesting decision not to go to Honolulu the week after Kapalua either. The Hawaiian Open (known today as the Sony Open) had been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu since 1965. The final Sony Open champion was Chris Gotterup of Easton, Maryland.