PGA Tour: Nick Taylor to defend Sony Open : Full Tee times

 PGA Tour : Sony Open Tee Times

With all the drama of the Fall Season over, and Christmas / New Years done and dusted, it's the first full field event on the PGA Tour of 2026, the Sony Open. 

This will be the last time Sony will provide the sponsorship,, and with re-structuring talks underway, it may be the last year for the event all together.

Nick Taylor defends his title and he leads the 6 Canadians including rookies AJ Ewart and Sudarshan Yellamaraju.

Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith and Adam Svensson round out the group. Mac Hughes is not in the field.

Rory, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood are all in Dubai this week but there is a strong DP World Tour contingent in this field, including the 10 who won dual membership last season.

Click on my TEE TIMES logo above for the full field.

Bryan Angus.

McIlroy and Lowry paired TEE TIMES Dubai Invitational...

 DP World Tour : Dubai Invitational Leaderboard Tee Times

Here we go again after the Christmas break the DP World Tour has gathered again for fortnight in Dubai. The week its the Dubai Invitational with just 60 pros and 60 amateurs over 72 holes.

Rory and Shane Lowry are paired, with defending champion and World #3 Tommy Fleetwood paired with Ryan Fox.

The Ams play 54 holes paired with the pros, than the pros sort out the winner over the final 18 holes on Sunday.

For full tee times click on my leaderboard above.

Welcome back !!

Bryan Angus

DP World Tour resumes in Dubai....full details

 The DP World Tour will visit five countries across seven events as the Race to Dubai resumes with the International Swing.

One of five Global Swings which form Phase One of the schedule, the series of tournaments includes a Dubai double header to the start the new year.

As with the past two seasons on the DP World Tour, the schedule comprises three distinct phases, beginning with the Global Swings followed by the Back 9, with the campaign culminating with the DP World Tour Play-Offs in November.

Two years on from its inaugural edition, the Dubai Invitational returns to Dubai Creek Resort for the start of a new calendar year on the DP World Tour. Tommy Fleetwood is back to defend his title. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are also in the field. It is a no cut 60 pros, 60 amateurs event over 72 holes.

The first of back-to-back tournaments in the Emirate, the International Swing continues with the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club - the first Rolex Series event of the season. Last year Tyrrell Hatton was the winner. This year of note, former World #1 Dustin Johnson who left for the guaranteed money on LIV in it's inaugural season, is making a DP World Tour debut.

To view the Dubai Invitational field in full, click here.

To view the Hero Dubai Desert Classic field, click here.

From there, the action heads to Bahrain for the third edition of the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship where Laurie Canter made good on his return to DP World Tour from LIV last year before the Qatar Masters where Haotong Li won, takes place, reinforcing its status as a key fixture on Tour.

As was the case last year, there is then a one-week interval, with the Magical Kenya Open marking the start of three consecutive events in Africa. Jacques Kruyswijk broke through win his win in 2025.

The Investec South African Open Championship won by Dylan Naidoo then takes place at new host Stellenbosch Golf Club before the Swing concludes at Houghton Golf Club with the Joburg Open where Scotsman Calum Hill was the victor, with both events co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour.

What is at stake during the Swing?

As well as silverware and valuable Race to Dubai and Official World Golf Ranking points, there is plenty to play for on the International Swing.

As for each Global Swing, the leading player is crowned Swing Champion, qualifes for each of the Back 9 events and earns a US$200,000 bonus.

The player who finishes highest in the Swing Rankings and is not already exempt will join the field for the second Rolex Series event of the season - the Genesis Scottish Open.

The Investec South African Open Championship will also offer an invite to the Masters Tournament for the champion, while the top three players not already exempt will earn a place in the field for The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale via The Open Qualifying Series.

What's to follow?

With the International Swing through to March, there is a one-week hiatus before the five-event Asian Swing starts at the Hainan Classic in China.

The Asian Swing will be followed by the European Swing and Closing Swing before the Back 9 leads into the DP World Tour Play-Offs.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Nick Taylor defends Sony Open, Full Field with 6 Canadians

 PGA Tour : Sony Open Field

The venerable Waialae GC, par 70, 7044 yards will open the 2026 PGA Tour season on Thursday, sponsored by Sony for the last time.

Canada's Nick Taylor will attempt to successfully defend his title, he leads Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Svensson and rookies AJ Ewart, and Sudarshan Yellamaraju.

Russell Henley #5, JJ Spaun #6, Robert MacIntyre #7, Hideki Matsuyama #17 are the owgr top ranked players.

Also taking advantage of winning dual membership from the DP World Tour, Dan Brown, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, John Parry, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, and Jordan Smith

England's Laurie Canter left LIV in 2024 saying he wanted to play his way into the majors and Ryder Cup consideration on the DP World Tour. He had a strong 2025 playing his way into the top 10 that qualified for dual membership with the PGA Tour and all the money on offer there.

However he declined to return to LIV for the easier guaranteed money on offer there. He is the father of two young daughters in Bath, England and said that flying back and forth to the USA 30 times a year was not the way he wanted to live.

He also rejoined his life long pals Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter on their LIV team.

This is the last year Sony will sponsor the event, and as I mentioned yesterday, the PGA Tour is considering a re structure of the schedule, possibly eliminating the two Hawaiian tournaments that traditionally begin the year.

Bryan Angus

PGA Tour, Sentry Open is cancelled, is the Sony Open next to follow.

 PGA Tour : The Sentry January 9-12 : cancelled

When preparing my annual coverage of the PGA Tour, which has been on holiday since the Tour Championship, August 21-24, I was reminded of a Press release back in October that due to the drought on Maui and a water dispute browning out the course, the annual Sentry on the famous Plantation GC on Kapalua had been cancelled.

You may remember it was a restricted field reward originally, for winners on the previous year's PGA Tour. Players would often bring their families for a fortnight's working man's holiday in the islands with some lovely prize money thrown in.

Last year it was selected as a signature event with the top 50 now invited as well, and what seemed to me to be an obscene $20,000,000 for what was really just a nice warm up event in paradise.

Nick Taylor (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

So now the season will begin next week at the Sony Open with Canada's Nick Taylor defending his title.

Here's where the waters of the blue Pacific's  gets a bit murky.

This is the last year of Sony's sponsorship. Apparently staging the traditional two Hawaiian events are the most expensive dates on Tour, citing their remote location, and sparse resort crowds on Kapalua, and despite the Sony's proximity to Honolulu it has never been considered a revenue maker either.

The Tour's big draw Scottie Scheffler won't begin his season until the American Express January 22 -25 at La Quinta.

New CEO, Brian Rolapp and his Strategic Sports Group are in discussion to restructure the Tour schedule, it is not my intention to delve into all of the proposals, however it is apparent that eliminating the two Hawaiian events is a possibility.

The entire field for this year's Sony Open has not yet been published but there are a record seven Canadians with 2026 cards.

Taylor, along with Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Mac Hughes are joined by Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Adam Svensson and AJ Ewart are all fully qualified.

Adam Hadwin and Ben Silverman have lost their cards but will receive some invites as past champions or performance in the "reshuffle"categories

Bryan Angus

All you need to know for DP World Tour 2026...

 As a new year dawns on the DP World Tour in 2026, here are at some of the things to watch out for.

The return of the Dubai Invitational

Serving as the opening event of the Race to Dubai’s International Swing, the second edition of the Dubai Invitational marks the start of the action on the DP World Tour in 2026.

Held at Dubai Creek Resort, a European Tour Destinations venue, Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood is returning to defend his title.

The reigning FedEx Cup Champion and eight-time DP World Tour winner delivered a dramatic birdie–birdie finish at the inaugural edition in 2024 to edge out Ryder Cup team-mate Rory McIlroy on the final day.

The event includes a three-day Pro-Am team competition before a professionals-only final day, bringing together 60 DP World Tour professionals and 60 amateurs.

Every week counts

Featuring a minimum of 42 Race to Dubai tournaments in 25 different countries, the schedule will once again comprise three distinct phases.

Beginning with five Global Swings followed by the Back 9, the season then culminates with the DP World Tour Play-Offs in November.

Each Global Swing has its own identity and its own champion, with exemptions into Rolex Series events and the second phase of the season - the Back 9 - also available.

Members are competing for a record total prize fund of $157.5 million (outside the Major Championships) on golf’s global Tour next season.

The Rolex Series

As in previous years, the consistent thread throughout the course of the season will be the five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour.

In 2026 these will be: the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (January), the Genesis Scottish Open – co-sanctioned with the PGA TOUR (July), the BMW PGA Championship (September), the Abu Dhabi Championship (November) and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship (November).

The new events

While the Race to Dubai schedule is largely in line with recent campaigns, there is a brand-new event in 2026.

The Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, the first tournament on the European Swing, will take place from May 7-10 at Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona.

Its introduction follows the agreement announced last summer that the 2031 Ryder Cup will be played at Camiral in Catalunya, with Spain becoming the first continental European country to host the biennial contest twice.

In addition, the PGA TOUR’s Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic features on the Race to Dubai for the first time from July 16-19.

Alongside the ISCO Championship from July 9-12, it is one of two back-to-back events in the schedule where DP World Tour members will have access to playing on the PGA TOUR.

The new and returning venues

During the International Swing, the Investec South African Open Championship will return to Stellenbosch GC for the first time since 1999.

El Prat will host a DP World Tour event for the first time since the 2015 Open de España presented by Madrid.

Also part of the European Swing, the the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol is moving to Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith.

Since the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone GC, the Italian Open has changed venues annually and this year sees it return to Circolo Golf Torino for the fourth time and first since back-to-back editions in 2013 and 2014.

During the Closing Swing, the third edition of the Danish Golf Championship will take place on the island of Funen, with Great Northern the host venue.

Again forming part of the Back 9, the Amgen Irish Open will be played at Trump International Golf Links Ireland, Doonbeg, for the first time from September 10-13.

Shortly after, the FedEx Open de France is slated to return to Le Golf National after the 2018 Ryder Cup venue underwent major renovation works.

McIlroy targets Monty's record

After topping the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World for a seventh time last year, Rory McIlroy has Colin Montgomerie's record haul of eight firmly in his sights.

The Northern Irishman enjoyed a remarkable year in 2025, achieving the career Grand Slam with a memorable Masters win, tasting victory at the Amgen Irish Open and playing a key role in Europe's historic away Ryder Cup triumph at Bethpage.

A winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy for the last four years, he is ahead of Seve Ballesteros' tally of six and appears intent on climbing to the top of the all-time list.

"It seems within touching distance now," he said. "I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I'd love to be the most successful European in terms of winning Order of Merits and season-long races.

"I've hopefully got a few more good years left in me, and hopefully I can catch (Montgomerie) and surpass him."

The road to the Majors

Barring the Ryder Cup, nothing gets a golf fan excited quite like the Majors.

The season of golf's four biggest individual prizes will once again begin at Augusta National for the Masters Tournament in April, before Aronimink hosts the US PGA Championship, Shinnecock Hills stages the U.S. Open and The Open Championship visits Royal Birkdale.

As part of a new initiative announced by Augusta National and The R&A last summer, the winner of the Investec South African Open Championship will earn a spot at The Masters, while there will be three places in the field – to golfers not already exempt – at The 154th Open available as part of the Open Qualifying Series.

There is one place available for Royal Birkdale for players competing at the Italian Open, while three places will be available via the Genesis Scottish Open.

The first five DP World Tour members and any DP World Tour members tying for fifth place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the BMW International Open will also earn a spot at The Open.

As with the past couple of years, the leading three players on the Asian Swing Rankings will earn exempt status for the US PGA Championship.

Players out to shine

You already know about the DP World Tour's established superstars but what about those who might make a name for themselves this season?

Nine players from last year's HotelPlanner Tour cohort of graduates made it to the season finale in Dubai, with three of those - Kristoffer Reitan, John Parry and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen - earning dual membership on the PGA TOUR for the 2026 season.

Martin Couvra, another product of the HotelPlanner Tour in 2024, was named Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year after making his DP World Tour breakthrough..

But it is not just rookies looking to seize the opportunity, with an array of international talent from Qualifying School including Canada's Aaron Cockerill, hoping to emulate Jacob Skov Olesen in playing their way to the season climax in Dubai.

There have already been three first-time winners so far on the 2026 Race to Dubai, with Neergaard-Petersen, David Puig and Jayden Schaper all winning silverware. After there were 19 first-time winners last season, how many will we see this year?

Changes to membership structure

In effect for the 2026 season, there are a number of changes to the DP World Tour's membership structure - designed to provide greater schedule certainty and more balanced playing opportunities. They will also make gaining the 2027 Tour card more difficult.

Among these, are:

• The cut-off to retain a full card through the 2026 Race to Dubai Rankings (for the 2027 season) will be reduced from the top 110 to the top 100

• The number of cards available to top finishers on the HotelPlanner Tour will be reduced from 20 to 15

• The DP World Tour cards available at the 2026 Qualifying School will be reduced from the top 20 and ties to the top 15 and ties.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Heart warming DP World Tour "Comeback kids" for 2026

 It's New Years Eve day, December 31,2025, all the promise of 2026, 18 hours away, and wherever you are, and however you are feeling, I wish us all firstly a healthy new year, for without our health, all the rest doesn't matter. If you can have a prosperous one, that would be a bonus, but to have a loving one would be priceless.

Here's a look at 4 golfers and one honourable mention who will begin 2026 full of hope after crushing defeat who have made a comeback, and the loving support they have had is a big reason why.

There are few sports in the world that can take you from a soaring high to a crushing low in a career, a season or even a round like golf.

Years of hard work can be fulfilled or falter on one putt and here they are, having risen from the depths in the 2025 season and now have the opportunity to fly ever higher on the Race to Dubai in 2026.

Zander Lombard

A joint winner of Qualifying School Final Stage in 2018 and outright winner of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 2019, Lombard had amassed seven runner-up finishes on the DP World Tour by the summer of 2024.

But during a three-a-side game of padel with his wife Kelsey, caddie and some friends, Lombard went up for a smash and when he came down his left knee “snapped – like a gunshot”.

An MRI scan and consultation with the doctor of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich revealed an anterior cruciate ligament rupture and medial meniscus tear - Lombard's season was over in June and he would not return for seven months.

“My wife had to get me dressed for at least six weeks, I was in a brace and two crutches," he said. "Then on crutches until 12 weeks and then one crutch for another four. So it was 15, 16 weeks of constant nurturing from her and your mind just blanks out the bad memories.

“It was tough on the whole but there were some highlights in between. Little goals of getting off the crutches, learning how to walk again. Those little things keep me going."

An understandably difficult 2025 season saw him heading back to the Q School but once there he would win it for the second time in his career in spectacular fashion.

He broke 65 four times in Tarragona en route to a -37 under par total and remarkable 13-shot victory, sealing his place back on Tour.

James Morrison

A Challenge Tour graduate in 2009 who won in his rookie season, 2025 is not the first time that the Englishman has had to stage a big comeback.

He lost his card in 2013 but gained it straight back at the Qualifying School and then spent 11 consecutive years on Tour, winning again in 2015 and missing a chip for a 59 at the 2021 Omega European Masters as he fired a scintillating opening 60.

He would card just three top tens over the next three seasons, however, and ever-candidly admitted he was maybe looking to new avenues in broadcasting, even getting behind the mic on a few occasions while still playing.

Anyone who saw his crestfallen walk off the 18th after missing the cut at the the 2024 Q School may have suspected he had hit his last professional shot but Morrison, having only just turned 40, went back to the HotelPlanner Tour - missing nine out of ten cuts to start 2025.

A spectacular return to form saw him then claim a win out of nowhere - his first professional victory in just over a decade - at the BlotPlay9 but he was on the outside looking in at the graduation places when he arrived at the Rolex Grand Final supported by the R&A for what he thought would be his last event.

But with 13-year-old son Finley on the bag, he claimed a three-shot victory for an emotional second win of the season and a spectacular return to the DP World Tour for 2026.

Eddie Pepperell

Another popular Englishman, Pepperell's overarching story mirrors Morrison's in some ways, although he has taken a different route back to the DP World Tour.

A 2012 Challenge Tour graduate, Pepperell narrowly lost his card in 2016 but bounced straight back at the Qualifying School and went on to enjoy the two most fruitful years of his career so far, racking up two wins, two seconds, two thirds and eight other top tens across 2017 and 2018.

Another Race to Dubai top 50 came in 2022 but in 2024 he once again narrowly lost his card and heartbreak followed at Q School as he missed a seven-foot putt for eagle that would have seen him bounce straight back again.

But Pepperell, who has always been open about his struggles with both the technical and mental side of his game, admitted he was becoming frustrated and walked off the course at this year's Turkish Airlines Open, taking a month off from the game.

In his second event back he shared the lead after three rounds of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour, only to have to withdraw through injury and he would finish the season 166th on the Race to Dubai and 79th on the Road to Mallorca.

Ever the entertainer, however, Pepperell had one more trick up his sleeve, birdieing the final four holes at Q School to catapult himself into the top 20 and back onto the DP World Tour for 2026.

Ashun Wu

In 2015, Wu did not have a card on the DP World Tour but secured one by winning the Volvo China Open - six days short of ten years later he did the same thing again.

The Chinese had already tasted success on the Japan Golf Tour when he won his home open and maintained momentum on the DP World Tour, winning again in 2016 and 2018.

He then finished outside the top 100 on the Race to Dubai Rankings for the next three seasons but was back in the winner's circle in 2022 in Kenya.

For the second time in his career, his winner's exemption was needed to keep hm on Tour in 2023 but there was heartbreak a year later as he missed out on keeping his card via the Race to Dubai by one spot.

He was on course for an instant return after five rounds at Q School but a closing 73 sent him tumbling down the leaderboard, severely limiting his opportunities in 2025.

Hearts made two starts in each of the Opening and International Swings but come the start of the Asian Swing, he capitalised on his previous winner's exemption to come home in 31 on Sunday, overturn a four-shot deficit and win the Volvo China Open for the second time to return to the DP World Tour for 2026.

Honourable mention : Aaron Cockerill

   DP World Tour : Q School Final Stage.  Leaderboard Tee Times

With the week of his entire year, Aaron Cockerill who only managed one top 10 all season has turned the whole season right on its head with rounds of 69 66 70 67 67 65 -24 to T2 at this Final Stage of the DP World Tour Q School to regain his card for 2026.

In 29 starts he missed 12 cuts, with just the one T10, finishing 120th in the Race to Dubai after being 49th in 2024, he admitted he " just didn't play well enough for 4 rounds all year" and in a candid interview "golf is such a crazy game, I can hit it so well one day, and so very poorly the next"

 

 This is absolutely fantastic for the popular Canadian, now 34, his wife Chelsea, daughter Addison and all his sponsors, who were staring a year on the Challenge Tour (now Hotel Planner) squarely in the face.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)