Ready Or Not, The PGA Tour Season Begins (Again) At Kapalua

Whether its the side-effect of a late Presidents Cup, an accumulation of wraparound golf buildup or starting as early as possible, the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions arrives with little fanfare or anticipation.

The flat vibe certainly is not the fault of Kapalua, perennially one of the more enjoyable venues in tournament golf both in beauty and fun finish production. The course re-debuts after a freshening and toughening, and sounds a bit soft this year, which may negate the charming ground game of yesteryear.

The format is not to blame, either, though dreams of a duel PGA Tour-LPGA TOC start were dashed when a sponsor likely not want to deal with the cost or equal pay criticisms that would have been a byproduct of such an event. (Sentry just renewed through 2030, news announced for minimum traction on that Friday news dump not-on-a-Friday, aka New Year’s Eve…)

Nor are the players to blame. While the usual defections happened again due to a plethora of playing opportunities—Woods, Koepka, McIlroy passed—plenty of first time winners and quality players have turned up for a guaranteed $64,000 and week on Maui.

Which brings us back to a recurring and dreadful topic we’ll grapple with all of 2020: schedule compaction. To put it as euphemistically as possible.

Tokyo’s Olympic games in July grab two weeks of the PGA Tour schedule and thus forced the early start. They will also disrupt schedules of big names and highlight how too many playing opportunities exist. As a product folks pay handsomely to sponsor and televise, we’ll be reminded quite regularly that the people writing big checks could get a lot more bang for their bucks with some schedule contraction and less of an emphasis on providing year-round playing opportunities.

Not that anyone will do anything about it as long as players incentivize leaders to maximize at the expense of the product.

So sit back, enjoy the beautiful scenes from Kapalua and break out your trade winds-climate change-Coore & Crenshaw bingo board.

Oh, but do enjoy the warm and fuzzy Patrick Reed-Kevin Kisner pairing that should brighten any January gloom. The new security guard spotted as part of Team Reed has undoubtedly been told to keep an eye on Kis as much as any Hawaiian hecklers.

Patrick Reed and Kevin Kisner paired together at Kapalua is a fun way to kick off 2020. https://t.co/VTwdZsplek pic.twitter.com/FkQ8mteEhY
— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) December 31, 2019