Minus Kapalua, Anthony Kim Takes The Weekend
Cancelling The Sentry opened the door to other golf news and a reminder that the PGA Tour's new scarcity approach will give competitors fresh ways to steal the spotlight.
Take big stakes golf away from breezy Maui and what do you get?
Worst fears.
And it’s only week one.
The weekend’s golf “headlines” were dominated by the very thing that most fans have come to loathe: off-course first-world Tour tussling.
Wait. That’s not accurate.
Speculation about tussling over tedious membership and equity stake matters.
Instead of fans reuniting with a season-opening tradition since 1999 and someone unexpected booking a trip to The Masters (thanks to The Sentry’s field expansion from its old Tournament of Champions days), we got lots of breathless Anthony Kim coverage.
Anthony. Kim.
Oh, and riveting news that the PGA Tour plans to expand its equity program to include current FedEx Cup performance. Pausing here to let you catch your breath.
Instead of savoring the highly underrated fun of watching golf balls doing crazy things upon hitting the Kapalua fairways and approaches, golf fans had nothing new to watch. Unless you count the 45,923rd replay of Gene Littler and Byron Nelson at Pine Valley. Or the last day of the 2025 Ryder Cup. Because Americans are so eager to relive that one. Then again, a losing Ryder Cup Sunday looks like the 1986 Masters compared to marathon repeats of Big Break Season 23.
Yep, had to look it up. There were 23 seasons. And a 24th is looming in the shadows to cause new nightmares.
Instead of blue waters and breaching whales—even when the humpbacks seem strangely familiar to the ones we saw last year—the professional golf world had no choice but to feast on word that Michael Block got a Malbon deal. Or, to study Friday’s news of Brooks Koepka officially applying for a PGA Tour return. As expected, the Koepka chatter sounds like absurdist Bushwood scuttlebutt, minus any Czverik’s or Smails’ to make the cattiness seem mildly entertaining.
“Sources told ESPN that once Koepka reapplies for membership, the tour will start its reinstatement and disciplinary process, which will include ‘thoughtful input from the board, including player directors.’”
At least it’ll be thoughtful input.
The Koepka brought out an assortment of grill room hot take artists along with a nice mix of clueless LIV bots. Real golf reporters were asked to predict the ultimate outcome despite the difficulty of gauging what the make-it-up-as-they-go Tour is doing. The whole thing already reeks of lame country club dramatics: Brooks has lost the locker room and must apologize to Chef Henrik for calling his cooking low-grade dog food for tarnishing the brand and costing the Tour millions.
I know what you’re thinking: purses have never been higher, a private equity group made up of sports team owners just kicked in over a billion dollars, 2025’s ratings were up, and the Tour appears to have survived a hostile threat from a Kingdom that likes to throw people from buildings screaming for their lives. Everyone should be happy.
“I think the PGA Tour needs to be careful about setting a precedent here,” said Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee. “To allow Brooks to come back with no consequence, I think would undermine the meritocratic foundations that are the one thing that makes the PGA Tour legitimate.”
Fun fact: “meritocratic foundations” also happens to be Rich Lerner’s voice-warm-up go-to for Live From.
But because we have no golf or major bids to cover, I’ll bite: if precedent is on the minds of the same folks who’ve been tossing precedent out the window, then it seems like Koepka is in for a long wait to get a PGA Tour card. As SI’s Bob Harig found out after talking to Hudson Swafford about his five-year suspension for going to LIV, Swafford has asked why so long, and still waiting for the answer as to why he’s received such a harsh suspension.
“There’s really no clarity on that,” said Swafford, 38, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour now selling real estate. “The PGA Tour can really do whatever they want. I do think they will do some picking and choosing going forward.”
By shelving the season-opener at Kapalua to begin delivering 11% returns for the Strategic Sports Group, the Tour handed on-course golf headlines to Anthony Kim’s triumphant success at LIV’s Promotions event. Kim sank a birdie putt on his 36th hole to make the final two rounds, then finished third among the 22 who made the weekend. He joined Canada’s Richard T. Lee and Sweden’s Björn Hellgren as golfers who get to play the circuit but are not on any of the charmingly named teams. Fingers crossed the Hy Flyers can someday use their open roster spot on Kim. Phil can mentor him. An absurdist sitcom could follow.
Meanwhile, in amateur golf, SMU’s William Sides captured the prestigious Jones Cup Invitational by two strokes over Frankie Harris and Miles Russell. Sides entered the week ranked No. 35 in the WAGR and, with the win, has moved into Walker Cup contention should he remain an amateur after completing his senior season for the Mustangs. (Jourdan/Golfweek)
There is also great news just into The Quad’s World HQ: there will be meaningful golf this week.
