Hawaii welcomes professional golf back! The Sony Open runs from January 15-18, 2026, at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. The tournament features a $9.1 million purse with 500 FedEx Cup points awarded to the winner in this season-opening event. Last year, Nick Taylor took the trophy home. Will he do the same? Only time will tell. However, not everyone answered the invitation.
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The Sony Open field reveals strategic scheduling choices by elite players, with five prominent names missing from the season opener.
Top StoriesScottie SchefflerA Christmas kitchen accident changed the world No. 1’s early-season plans.
Scottie Scheffler won’t be at the 2026 Sony Open because of a kitchen accident on Christmas Day. He got a cut on his right hand from broken glass while making dinner.
Back then, he said, “There’s definitely some weeks where I would love to be able to play, but I need to be able to be rested, to be able to go back out and compete.” But it looks like he needs more time to rest.
Instead, he will start his 2026 season at The American Express in California. Scheffler is sticking to his original plan of starting later in the season.
His 2025 season was nothing short of amazing. He won six PGA Tour events, including two majors (the PGA Championship and The Open Championship), and he became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to hold the world No. 1 ranking for an entire calendar year.
The Sony Open in Hawaii will serve as the opening event of the 2026 PGA TOUR Season and mark the first of 34 official events in the regular season.
The 120-player field features four players inside the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking:
2013 Sony Open in Hawaii champion… pic.twitter.com/Mf8lalgPeP
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) January 9, 2026
Rory McIlroyWhile Scheffler’s absence is injury-related, Rory McIlroy’s decision is purely strategic.
The green jacket holder hasn’t played in the Sony Open in a few years, which is in line with his pattern of skipping the early-season Hawaii swing. The Northern Irishman hasn’t played in this event in years because he likes to start his PGA Tour season later in the year. He wasn’t there in 2026, just as he wasn’t there in 2025.
For his first tournament of the season, McIlroy is focusing on the DP World Tour instead of Hawaii. The Dubai Invitational, which takes place from January 15 to 18, is the same week as the Sony Open. He will defend his title there.
His 2025 season was historic: he won The Masters in a playoff against Justin Rose, The Players Championship, and helped Europe win the Ryder Cup away at Bethpage Black in a stunning way. The 36-year-old also won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and his second Irish Open title, making him a five-time major champion.
Tommy FleetwoodTommy Fleetwood also follows the same pattern as McIlroy.
Fleetwood has never been a regular at the Sony Open because he has focused on the DP World Tour at the start of the season, where he has made a name for himself. Instead, the Englishman is set to play in the Dubai Invitational and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in the middle to end of January. His choice aligns with how most Europeans start the season closer to home.
Fleetwood was still competitive at the highest level in 2025, but he’s still looking for that first major championship. His ability to hit the ball well and his calm demeanor keep him in the running at golf’s biggest events. And he is often mentioned in conversations about players who could win their first major. Because he is so dedicated to the DP World Tour schedule, he doesn’t often plan Hawaiian events.
Justin ThomasMedical recovery keeps a former champion away from Waialae this year.
Justin Thomas won’t be at the 2026 Sony Open, and his reason for missing out is that he had to have surgery that has kept him from playing competitive golf since late 2025. In November, the two-time PGA Championship winner had a microdiscectomy to address a herniated disc in his lower back that was causing hip pain and affecting his swing.
Before he got hurt, Thomas was a regular at early-season events, usually playing in both The Sentry and The American Express. The 2017 Sony Open winner, who shot a record-breaking 27-under-par, has strong ties to Hawaii golf, so his absence is especially noticeable. Shane Lowry took his place at The Skins Game TV show in November. His last competitive event before the procedure was the 2025 Ryder Cup. He hopes to come back later in the 2026 season, prioritizing long-term health over rushing back.
Shane LowryThe final European star on this list also chose the Middle East over Hawaii.
Shane Lowry is not playing in the Sony Open, so he can focus on DP World Tour events in the Middle East. The Irishman wasn’t in the field for 2025 either, which means he still wants to start the season on home tours. Before moving on to PGA Tour events, he usually plays in the Dubai swing.
The winner of the 2019 Open Championship had a great 2025 season, even though there were some annoying rule disputes at major championships. He ended the year with strong performances and remained a key player in European golf. Lowry stays in the news even when he’s not playing in early PGA Tour stops like Hawaii because he works with Rory McIlroy on the team and is a key player in the Ryder Cup.
A lot of top players skip this event after the holiday break or wait until later tournaments to start their season. But there are still a lot of strong players in the field, like Russell Henley (#5), J.J. Spaun (#6), Robert MacIntyre (#7), and Jordan Spieth.
The 2026 Sony Open is a unique start to the season because there are only 120 players, and it is the official start of the PGA Tour after The Sentry was canceled at Kapalua.
