Jon Rahm tosses a shaka while posing with the winner’s trophy after his victory in the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Sunday at the Kapalua Plantation Course. Rahm, the No. 5-ranked player in the world, is among eight players in the top 10 who played at Kapalua but opted not to compete this week in the Sony Open on Oahu. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

KAPALUA — While the raw numbers may not look like the future of the Sony Open is bright — especially when compared to the Sentry Tournament of Champions — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Gov. Josh Green both see the Oahu event having staying power.

As the PGA Tour’s first designated event, 17 of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking played in the TOC last week at the Kapalua Plantation Course, but just four of the top 20 teed off on Thursday in the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club.

Eight of the top-10 players competed on Maui, none will do so on Oahu.

Sentry is committed to be the title sponsor at Kapalua through 2035, Sony is committed to Waialae through 2026.

While 19 of the 39 players from the TOC field are in the Sony’s 144-player field, there are some notable players who decided to skip the Oahu event, including former champion Justin Thomas, and Collin Morikawa and Tony Finau, both of whom have strong local ties to Hawaii.

When asked Sunday if he sees Sony being part of the Hawaii swing going forward, Monahan answered, “Absolutely.”

“This is our, what, 25th year at Kapalua. Next week will be our 25th year with Sony. They’re through ’26. I think this time we have 19 players that are playing this week that are playing next week. I think that event is very well positioned, for the reasons I mentioned earlier,” he said.

Some of those reasons are the fact that the PGA Tour season will begin at Kapalua in 2024, in an event that takes only PGA Tour winners from the previous calendar year and those in the Tour Championship.

“I think as you get here next year and we restart and go back to a calendar year (schedule), I think you’ll probably see that number only increase,” Monahan said of golfers playing both events. “Sony, the players love that golf course and love that back-to-back experience. I think it makes being here even … more important and special. And then I think the changes that we’re making will certainly benefit both events. But we’re, yeah, they’re two, the two are very important and are tied together.”

Green said the TOC event is at the top of the sports landscape in the 50th state and supports other sports events here.

“I think it makes it more possible for us to further augment what the Ironman (triathlon) does, sooner or later we’ll get a stadium built and there’ll be additional sports tourism and it will be easier to lock in because they see that the PGA (Tour) believes in us, and I also like the additional part that it is neighbor island,” Green said Jan. 5 at Kapalua.

Green said he would lend his presence to show support at the Sony.

“Well, I’m going to go to the Sony Open to show them that the executive branch supports them,” he said. “I think that they need to see a commitment because, of course, I will be guiding the Hawaii Tourism Authority and what their agenda should be. So, I will be able to demonstrate that support and each of these events mean more than people might realize.

“The PGA (Tour), for example, does more than $3 billion worth of charitable work every year and when a large piece of that disproportionately comes to Hawaii it draws other supporters. So, we need to have this success, we need to have this commitment because it kind of multiplies. So that’s a big deal.”

Green added that the picturesque views of the islands on television in the middle of January are invaluable.

“When people see us on TV and they see how extraordinary this is — especially keep in mind when it’s January or February when it is particularly crappy in other parts of the country, in lots of other parts of the country — to come from one of those places where the weather is quite rough, it really makes a difference,” Green said. “It adds to the myth of Hawaii in a positive way. We know that it’s just very real in Hawaii — we have regular jobs, regular lives, regular challenges — but the mythology has expanded when we have people see us in this incredible setting.

“And, frankly, Sentry and the PGA (Tour) put on something special here.”

Monahan said that the new schedule will be a big boost for both tournaments in 2024.

“I think the primary benefit of the January through August timeframe — so when we come here next year it’s really the kickoff to the season,” he said. “As much energy we have and as strong a field as we have (this year), I think there will be even greater energy because you’re going to need to get off to a fast start.

“I think you will see players playing more often on the front end, independent of the events that they’re committed to play. I think having top players playing together and knowing where they’re going to play together, for them, puts them in the best competitive position to compete for winning the biggest events out here, to prepare for the biggest events in our game and ultimately to put themselves in a position to win the biggest prize in our game at the back end of the year.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.