Torrey Pines has a new title sponsor and may have a major conundrum for the PGA Tour in the process.
From January 2027, the San Diego event formerly known as the Farmers Insurance Open will rebrand as The Sentry after today’s announcement by the PGA Tour that it has struck a deal with Sentry Insurance.
For The Tour, it kills two birds with one stone. Sentry used to title-sponsor The Sentry at Kapalua, Hawaii in a deal slated to run until at least 2025.
The Plantation Course event carried a $20m prize money purse and the honour of opening the PGA Tour season at the turn of the new year. But the PGA scrapped the Hawaii swing altogether in April, partly because of environmental and water rights issues.
That left Sentry, the Wisconsin-based company, with an expensive commitment that no longer had a home. Farmers Insurance, meanwhile, had ended its 15-year title sponsorship of the Torrey Pines event following the 2026 edition, won by an imperious Justin Rose in February.
The two loose ends have now been tied together. The announcement was made jointly with Sentry Insurance and the Century Club of San Diego, which organises the tournament. It will also serve as the curtain-raiser to the PGA Tour’s network debut on CBS.
The PGA has not, however, directly addressed the terms of the new deal with Sentry which, unlike its predecessor in Hawaii, does not currently cover one of the Tour’s eight signature events, nor the prestige of a $20m purse.
But could that change?
Speaking to NBC San Diego, Sentry CEO Pete McPartland said: “This tournament will be elevated in terms of its overall importance within the tour, beyond even what Kapalua was. I believe that any golfer that has the opportunity to golf in this tournament will, in fact, want to be here.”
The same report later suggested that Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who don’t typically play Torrey Pines, could be back at the rebranded event next year.
Of course, from 2028, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp plans a wholesale restructuring of the schedule. The season will be trimmed to 20 events, majors and playoffs included, with a two-tier system introduced that will see players promoted and relegated between tracks.
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