Sentry Insurance Becomes the Latest PGA TOUR Sponsor

With a big shakeup coming to the PGA Golf schedule in just a few years, it seems like everything on the Tour is beginning to change. Now, another change to a popular PGA tournament will also be taking effect coming this next season.

It was announced on Thursday that Sentry Insurance will now be a sponsor of the PGA TOUR’s winners only event that kicks off the season in Hawaii. While the season has kicked off in Maui for the last 20 years, the event name will now be the first annual Sentry Insurance Tournament of Champions. The tournament will take place from January 4-7.

While this will be Sentry Insurance’s first time hosting the event, the Tournament of Champions that opens up the new PGA year has taken place for the past two decades, just under different names. In the last few years, the event had been sponsored by the South Korean broadcasting group SBS. Naming rights were also used by Hynduai until the car company began sponsoring the Genesis Open at the Riviera.

Mi Hyang Lee of Republic of Korea putts on the 18th green during the…

Mi Hyang Lee of Republic of Korea putts on the 18th green during the final round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship Presented By Hershey at Ko Olina Golf Club on April 15, 2017 in Kapolei, Hawaii. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

This seems to be a great deal for the little-known insurance company to get a broader appeal. ”We just felt this was a perfect opportunity for Sentry to tell its story on a national basis, which you can do through tournament sponsorship,” said Pete McPartland, the chairman, CEO, and President of Sentry Insurance.

Sentry acquired the rights to sponsor the tournament in a five-year deal with the PGA TOUR and with it will sponsor one of the tournaments that brings out the new youth movement that has dominated the PGA TOUR. Justin Thomas will be back next year to defend his title and other previous winners like Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, and Patrick Reed are expected to return.

Overall this seems like a good sponsorship deal for Sentry Insurance and hopefully the Hawaii event will continue to kick off the PGA TOUR season with a bang.