GOLF TOPICS FOR 2026

The buzzword when Brian Rolapp began as CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises was "scarcity," which seemed to indicate a leaner schedule to lend greater importance to tournaments. And then over the next few months, the tour announced fall stops in Austin, Texas...

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This was always going to be a different year in golf with the PGA Tour trying to blow up a model that has been around longer than the sand wedge.

So it only seems fitting that 2026 starts with a soggy piece of coincidence. The Sentry, the season opener on the PGA Tour since 1999, was canceled because of water issues that include a dispute over how water is delivered to Kapalua. On what should have been the first official day of tournament week, Maui was under a flood watch. Go figure. The PGA Tour season starts next week on a different island and a weaker field amid concern about the future of the Sony Open, in the final year of its title sponsorship and waiting to see whether The Sentry returns to Kapalua. There's a lot of moving parts and still one central figure — Scottie Scheffler — whose latest run at No. 1 in the world began two weeks before the PGA Tour announced a framework agreement with Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Both seem a lot longer ago.

Here are key topics to contemplate as golf embarks on another year.

SCHEFFLER AND THE CAREER GRAND SLAM