No trip to Kapalua or Augusta National for PGA Tour winners in the fall

Winning in the FedEx Cup Fall portion of the PGA Tour used to come with a lot more than it does now — starting the season at Kapalua for The Sentry, a spot in the Masters in April and a two-year exemption on tour.

There’s still the two-year exemption.

Augusta National changed its criteria to remove an automatic spot for fall winners, instead going with winners from six designated national opens around the world.

Kapalua is out this year because of water shortage from a drought and allegations that a century-old water delivery system has fallen into disrepair. The Plantation course closed on Sept. 2 and the PGA Tour determined it could not be ready in time for the season opener.

The tour announced a month ago Kapalua would not be hosting The Sentry this year, and it’s looking more likely that the tournament will simply be canceled this year instead of moving to a temporary site on the West Coast or in Florida.

The next step would be what to do with the likes of 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 did not make the top 50 in the FedEx Cup.

One likelihood is to find another $20 million signature event for them to play, whether that’s Pebble Beach (which already has an 80-player field to accommodate the pro-am) or offering them a choice of an 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 have that distinction. It also would be the latest start to a PGA Tour year since the modern era began in 1969.

Dustin gets busy

The International Series on the Asian Tour has 15 players from LIV Golf in The Philippines this week, plus three who played as reserves. That’s not a big surprise given LIV’s investment in the tour.

The one name that stood out: Dustin Johnson.

The former No. 1 player in the world did not play outside of LIV Golf after signing with the Saudi-funded league in 2022 except for the Saudi International in 2024, and then the Dunhill Links Championship earlier this month with father-in-law Wayne Gretzky.

Along with a full LIV schedule, that gives the 41-year-old Johnson 20 tournaments this year, his most since he played 20 times in 2021.

“What I love most about the game is that it takes me to places I might never have gone otherwise, and the Philippines is one of those places,” Johnson said in a release.

More telling was when he added, “The International Series is also a perfect fit for where I’m at in my career.”

“Even though the LIV Golf season is over, I still want to compete, stay sharp, and challenge myself against some of the best players out here,” Johnson said. “Playing these events keeps me fresh, keeps me hungry, and at the same time helps grow the game in parts of the world that deserve to see it up close.”

Johnson, a former Masters and U.S. Open champion, has missed the cut in six of the last nine majors dating to his tie for 10th in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Fall 2026 coming together

The PGA Tour returns to Black Desert with a new title sponsor (Bank of Utah) and a much smaller purse — $6 million, down from $7.5 million — than when it made its debut last year.

But that’s typical of all tournaments in the FedEx Cup Fall.

The PGA Tour had seven fall events in 2023 with a total purse of $56.6 million, all but one of them at $8 million or more. Last year, there were eight tournaments with $58.3 million in prize money. Las Vegas is no longer part of the schedule, and so the seven tournaments in 2025 have a total prize fund of $45 million.

What next year’s fall schedule looks like remains a work in progress.

Sponsorship for the Mississippi tournament ended this year. The PGA Tour added the Good Good Championship for Austin, Texas, in November of 2026. Sports Business Journal reports another fall event in Asheville, North Carolina, could be on the way.

Also, the Mexico Open that had been following the West Coast swing is expected to move to the fall portion of the schedule.

Still to be determined is whether Procore extends its sponsorship in Napa, California, the traditional start of the FedEx Cup Fall. It got a huge boost this year when all but two U.S. Ryder Cup players were there — Scottie Scheffler won — to avoid a month off. It might be a spot for Presidents Cup players on both teams.

A win for the home crowd

Sei Young Kim won five times in two years on the Korea LPGA, made it through LPGA Q-school and then took off with three wins to capture LPGA rookie of the year in 2015.

She won a major at the KPMG Women’s PGA, won 12 times in a six-year span and reached as high as No. 2 in the world.

But she had not won before a home crowd since leaving to join the LPGA Tour.

That’s what made the BMW Ladies Championship so important to her. Kim not only ended a five-year drought without a title, it was her first win in South Korea.

“It took me more than 10 years to win a victory in front of my family and friends,” Kim said after her four-shot victory. “It means so much so me. It is a tournament that I really wanted to win, and I find that I can’t express my words to all of it. I really had good energy from all the fans, and really appreciate and thankful to that.”

Now she tries to make it two in a row. Kim is part of the South Korea team competing in the International Crown in South Korea.

Divots

Lauryn Nguyen, who helped Northwestern to an NCAA title in women’s golf as a senior, was selected to make her LPGA debut as a pro in The Annika next month at Pelican Golf Club. Nguyen was chosen for her golf and for her work hosting a junior event in her hometown of Seattle and managing the Duc Foundation that provides scholarships for kids in need. … The PGA Professional Championship will go to Superstition Mountain in Arizona in 2028, two years after the senior version of the club pro tournament will go there. … Maverick McNealy is the only player in the Bank of Utah Championship who reached the Tour Championship this year.

Stat of the week

Three European Ryder Cup players are outside the top 70 on the Race to Dubai — Ludvig Aberg (75), Shane Lowry (107) and Sepp Straka (148).

Final word

“I certainly think that golf can grow but it can grow in a way where the people that are coming into the game still respect and acknowledge that this is a little bit different than maybe other sports.” — Rory McIlroy.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf