Nick Taylor won the Sony Open in Hawaii a year ago in dramatic fashion, as he needed a playoff to earn his fifth PGA Tour win. It was the third year in a row the Canadian won a tournament in a playoff.
This year, he’s back on the island of Oahu to defend his title at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. The Sony, traditionally the second tournament of the season, gets lead-off honors in 2026 after The Sentry was canceled.
With rumors swirling about significant schedule changes coming in 2027, the Sony Open might fall off the radar.
“It’ll be a place that I’ll miss a lot, not just this tournament, but the state of Hawaii,” Taylor said during his media session Wednesday after his morning pro-am. “It’s one with Maui being such an awesome event over the years feeling like such an accomplishment to play there. Other than last couple years if win you’re playing in that golf tournament. It just felt like it was a great start to the year.
“Nothing set in stone. It’ll still be a place I’m going to visit. I don’t know about annually after that. We’ll see. My wife, we’re going to miss it. Yeah, it’ll be a year that I guess we won’t take it as much for granted this year with potentially things changing.”
And if the Hawaii swing does become a thing of the past, the PGA Tour season is likely to have a later start on the calendar.
“You know, if more of an offseason is something that results in this, I have two young kids, that’s something would be very valuable,” he said of those schedule rumors. “I know as much as probably everybody in this room, so there is a lot of the things I don’t quite know. Extending the offseason I think nobody would complain about that, so that would be something I would definitely take advantage of, spend more time with family and be at home.”
Collin Morikawa, meanwhile, is playing the Sony for the first time since 2021.
“I love it. I’ve taken this event off the past couple years and I miss it. It’s a fun event,” he said. “For me, family ties to Hawaii. Always good to be out here. Even the last couple years that I haven’t played we came over for a couple days and hung out for vacation. Just an amazing island to be on.”
Morikawa’s grandparents were born in Lahaina on Maui, where the Sentry is normally held.
“For me, someone that has ties to Hawaii, you never want to see something go away for good,” he said. “It just makes you realize, stay present this week and enjoy it as much as you can and see what kind of memories we can make. Hopefully finally find a way to win on the islands out here.”
