PGA Tour Brunch | SONY Open
Welcome to the 2026 PGA Tour Brunch Season | Honolulu, Hawaii
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
HONOLULU - With The Sentry Tournament of Champions cancelled, the “Opening Drive” for the 2026 PGA Tour season is coming this weekend at The SONY Open - usually the first full field event of the season, but this year - the first event, too.
It should be a good one.
As the 2026 PGA Tour season gets underway, the biggest and best storyline is the return of Brooks Koepka from LIV Golf. For a quick review, Koepka left the Tour in 2022 with a hefty signing bonus in hand from the Saudi PIF. Many fellow Tour members followed to form the rival pro golf league.
The story is so big, there just might need to be a reunion of Gabe Kaplan’s 1975-79 hit TV comedy with a chrous of “Welcome Back Kotter, errr Koepka.”
There were mid-December rumblings of Koepka sitting out the entire 2026 season, but on January 9, ESPN reported that Koepka was seeking reinstatement, citing family and extensive international travel reasons for leaving LIV. As of January 12, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp wrote a letter to members and fans outlining a new ‘returning player program’ which will allow Koepka a road back to playing on Tour by the Farmer’s Insurance Open at Torrey Pines (Jan 29).
As part of the agreement, Koepka will write a $5m check to the Tour’s charitable giving efforts and he’ll be subject to other limitations of forfeiting earnings from the PGA Tour player equity program which could add up to another $80m, depending on Koepka’s play on the circuit. Koepka’s past $100m deal with LIV will still keep him about $15-$20m in the black on his five-year earnings report, but sponsor exemptions, competing in the lucrative PGA TOUR Signature Events and general profit-sharing equity grants from the Tour will be docked for five years - all significant penalties that rival the biggest fines in professional sports history.
Aside from Koepka’s deal, Rolapp’s outline calls for a window between January 12 and February 2 for other players to seek reinstatement under similar terms as Koepka’s. That program, announced swiftly by the PGA Tour brass, could open the door for the return for Jon Rahm (who signed with LIV for a reported $200m), Bryson DeChambeau (currently negotiating a new deal with LIV) and Cameron Smith - all serious “major” contenders and fan favorites. The decisions for those players will all settle-out by February 2, thus avoiding disruption once the Tour hits full stride after the NFL Super Bowl when weekend TV time opens up for the sport of golf. As of this morning, Bryson, Rahm and Smith say they’re staying with LIV for 2026.
Keep in mind, the 2025 season saw PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan hand over to incoming CEO Brian Rolapp, prompting Koepka to state: “I believe in where the PGA TOUR is headed with new leadership, new investors, and an equity program that gives players a meaningful ownership stake. I also understand there are financial penalties associated with this (returning player program) decision, and I accept those. Finally, I want to thank the fans. Your support means more to me today than ever before, and I look forward to seeing you soon at the Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open.”
Once the February 2 window closes, there’s no guarantees what the Tour will do next season, but you can bet January 2027 will be an interesting time for the future of LIV Golf, as well as the continued well being of the PGA Tour.
Aside from the Koepka saga, there are plenty of other storylines to follow as the season gets underway:
Although he won’t make his ‘26 debut until next week at The American Express Jan 22 at LaQuinta, the top storyline of the season will be the “eyes on” Scottie Scheffler to see if he can return to outright dominance on Tour or not. A quick reminder that Tommy Fleetwood is the reigning FedEx Cup champ. Can Scheffler return to 2024 form when he took home the FedEx Cup and some $29 million in official money/winnings?
Will Ludvig Åberg break through as a major contender and week-to-week Top 10?
Billy Horschel has something to prove. In 2025, he was out from April until October recovering from hip surgery. He ranks No. 53 in the world as of Jan. 2026.
Johnny Keefer, the top player from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025, is now competing with the big boys. Can he make a mark?
SONY Open in Hawaii | Tournament Facts
COURSE: Waialae CC in Honolulu
YARDS/PAR: 7,044 yards/Par 70
ARCHITECT: Seth Raynor
PRIZE Money - Purse: $9,100,000/$1,638,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Nick Taylor
PAST RESULTS: (link)
OVERVIEW: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @SonyOpenHawaii
TV COVERAGE: The first two rounds (Jan 15 and 16) of the SONY Open are scheduled for TV coverage from 7:00pm to 10:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel.
On Saturday coverage is set for 7:00pm to 10:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel.
Sunday, Golf Channel will finish it off from 7:00pm to 10:00pm (ET).
TV & RADIO COVERAGE of the SONY Open
Thursday, January 15, 2026 - All Times Eastern Standard
12 Noon to 10:00pm (ET) - Streaming on ESPN+
4:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) - PGA Tour Radio (Sirius XM and Online)
7:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) - Golf Channel and Streaming on Peacock Net
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live coverage of The SONY Open beginning at 4:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, coverage will air 5:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) An, on Sunday PGA Tour Radio will air 5:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) (or to completion of event).
PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
SONY Open | The Basics
Tee Times at the SONY Open on Thursday - 12:10pm (ET) to 6:19pm (ET).
Weather: Thursday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with temperatures ranging from 66-77-degrees. Winds at 17 mph. A 13% chance of rain during the day.
Tournament Web Site: (Overview)
Past Results: (PGATour.com)
FedEx Cup Info: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post at Noon (ET) tomorrow, Thursday, January 15, 2026
SONY Open Field and Tee Times:
The Field: (link)
Tee Times: (link)
SONY Open | Tournament Odds
Source: Betting Hero
Russell Henley +1200
Ben Griffin +1400
Hideki Matsuyama +2000
Collin Morikawa +2000
Robert MacIntyre +2000
J.J. Spaun +2000
Keegan Bradley +2200
Si Woo Kim +2200
Maverick McNealy +2500
Harry Hall +2500
Nick Taylor +3000
Chris Kirk +3500
Kurt Kitayama +3500
Jordan Spieth +3500
Keith Mitchell +4000
Corey Conners +4000
Adam Scott +4000
Rico Hoey +4500
Chris Gotterup +4500
Aaron Rai +4500
Kevin Yu +5000
Nicolas Echavarria +5000
John Keefer +5000
Denny McCarthy +5000
Brian Harman +5000
Kristoffer Reitan +5500
Taylor Pendrith +5500
Jake Knapp +5500
Eric Cole +5500
Mac Meissner +6000
Matt McCarty +6500
Daniel Berger +6500
Michael Brennan +6500
Gary Woodland +7000
Neal Shipley +7000
Emiliano Grillo +7500
Billy Horschel +7500
Sam Stevens +7500
Pierceson Coody +7500
Michael Kim +7500
Webb Simpson +8000
Ryan Gerard +8000
Alex Smalley +8000
Vince Whaley +9000
Sahith Theegala +9000
Jordan Smith +9000
Haotong Li +9000
Tom Kim +10000
Tony Finau +10000
Seamus Power +10000
Matti Schmid +10000
John Parry +10000
Chandler Blanchet +10000
Lee Hodges +10000
Patrick Rodgers +11000
Bud Cauley +11000
Max McGreevy +11000
Luke Clanton +11000
Doug Ghim +12000
William Mouw +12000
Jacob Bridgeman +12000
Mark Hubbard +13000
Austin Eckroat +13000
Ricky Castillo +14000
Adrien Dumont De Chassart +14000
Zac Blair +16000
Daniel Brown +16000
Steven Fisk +16000
David Ford +17000
Beau Hossler +17000
Adam Svensson +17000
Keita Nakajima +18000
Takumi Kanaya +18000
S.H. Kim +18000
Christo Lamprecht +18000
Chad Ramey +19000
Kevin Roy +20000
Dylan Wu +20000
Erik Van Rooyen +20000
Ryo Hisatsune +20000
Nick Dunlap +20000
Adrien Saddier +20000
Cam Davis +25000
Alejandro Tosti +25000
Davis Riley +25000
Austin Smotherman +25000
Patton Kizzire +25000
Matthieu Pavon +25000
Brian Campbell +25000
Zecheng Dou +25000
Zach Johnson +25000
Chandler Phillips +25000
Adam Schenk +25000
Tom Hoge +30000
Kensei Hirata +30000
Gordon Sargent +30000
Seung Taek Lee +35000
Emilio Gonzalez +35000
Sudarshan Yellamaraju +40000
Kota Kaneko +40000
Hank Lebioda +40000
Brice Garnett +40000
Davis Chatfield +45000
Ren Yonezawa +50000
Pontus Nyholm +50000
John Vanderlaan +50000
Jeffrey Kang +50000
Yuta Sugiura +60000
Joe Highsmith +60000
Zach Bauchou +70000
Kazuki Higa +70000
Marcelo Rozo +70000
Danny Walker +70000
Vijay Singh +80000
Peter Malnati +80000
Rafael Campos +100000
A.J. Ewart +100000
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: For the very first event of the 2026 PGA TOUR’s “Opening Drive,” possibly the single most difficult weekend to handicap of the entire season, the picks are as follows: The always tough in Hawaii Hideki Matsuyama will captain this squad. He’ll play with the hot TGL stick of Billy Horschel, Collin Morikawa and a CBS Sportsline recommendation of J.J. Spaun (in tribute to my HS bud, JJ Johnson). The Reserves: Nico Echavarria (who has played well of late and, for some power, how about Seamus Power? For the Tour One and Done? Hideki
What They’re Saying
Who are THE FIVE for the SONY (PGATourCom)
DeChambeau, Rahm, Smith Commit to LIV Golf (CBS Sports)
CBS Sports Golf Coverage (CBS Sports HQ)
Sports Gambling, Daily Fantasy and Golf Industry News
Power Rankings for the SONY Open - (PGATourCom)
Picks for SONY, DFS Odds (CBS Sports)
Expert Picks for the SONY - (PGATourCom)
TGL Coverage (TGLGolf)
On This Day in Golf History
January 14, 1945 - Byron Nelson won the Phoenix Open - his first of a record 18 tournament wins during the 1945 season. Yes… SEASON! Nelson entered 30 tournaments and famously won 11 straight from Miami Four Ball in March through the Memphis Classic in August.- Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt
A look at the best shots of 2025:
Next Up - LaQuinta and The American Express
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