ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"\"When my husband asks me what we did today...\""}]

Smile 26 1 10

<title>Daily Smile: Saturday, January 10, 2026</title>

"When my husband asks me what we did today..."

Daily Smile: Saturday, January 10, 2026

 &quot;When my husband asks me what we did today...&quot;

This is George. He just tried freshly grated pecorino romano for the first time. Will not be accepting anything less from here on out...

Smile 26 7 10

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, July 10, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Friday, July 10, 2026

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

, formerly known as Harry’s Hardware Emporium, is officially open within Pint + Jigger. The speakeasy opened in May, and it’s currently open Fridays to Sundays only.

Customers can make reservations for the speakeasy using OpenTable. Search for Pint + Jigger; Hush Hush is listed under “Experiences.” When you click on it, you’ll be able to choose your preferred time slot. The speakeasy is open starting at 6 p.m. until 10 or 11 p.m.

For those who have visited Harry’s Hardware in Pint + Jigger’s previous location on South King Street, you’ll notice some familiar elements. The countertop is from the old location — it’s just been trimmed down, since the current space is smaller — and the speakeasy has the same wallpaper, stools and lighting, according to lead bartender Max Kamm, who explains that the intimate lounge now features New Orleans-inspired cocktails.

“We wanted to do a nod toward the New Orleans bar scene,” he says. “If you look at the menu, it’s going to seem like there’s a lot of usage of cognac, absinthe and French ingredients. A lot of New Orleans staples are on there — like Sazerac, Grasshopper — that are real prevalent there. I think there’s something on there (the menu) for just about anybody.”

The “HH” logo stood for Harry’s Hardware, but after Dave Newman stepped away from Pint + Jigger, the team changed the speakeasy’s name.

“It was named after his (Newman’s) grandpa,” Kamm says. “We’re doing the same concept — just wanted to do good cocktails, and we have a nice space to do it in.

“Harry’s (Hardware) closed right before the Covid-19 pandemic,” he adds. “We got to this location just about four years ago, and we just opened it (the speakeasy) now, so it’s been a long time. The reason we never opened this prior was because we’re just always shorthanded when it comes to the bar staff.”

The bar seats around 12 individuals, and there are three booths in the speakeasy. The speakeasy space can seat approximately 25 guests, according to Kamm.

“The booths are really different (compared to the old location),” he explains. “When they were doing the buildout for this, it was during the Covid-19 pandemic, so it made more sense to do it this way (with booths).”

The cocktail menu features a variety of barrel-aged options — which are popular, according to Kamm — refreshing libations, “guilty pleasures” and slushies. There are also beers and wines by the glass or bottle.

“If you’re into Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, a lot of the cocktails under the ‘boozy’ section are in your wheelhouse,” Kamm says. “If you’re looking for something fun and playful, but still tasty and leaning toward the dessert side, the ‘guilty pleasures’ section is good to look at.”

An example of this is the Grasshopper ($15), made with Raynal Cocnac, crème de menthe, crème de cacao, fernet branca and cream.

“For the Grasshopper, I wanted to make it look like you’re drinking a diner milkshake,” Kamm says. “If you like mint chocolate chip ice cream, I think you’ll enjoy it.”

The barrel-aged Vieuxcarre ($25) has also been a customer favorite. It comprises Rittenhouse rye, Old Overhault Rye, Raynal Cognac, Carpano Antica, Benedictine and bitters.

“The barrel-aged cocktails are always a hit,” Kamm says. “I think people are just intrigued by the fact that they’re barrel-aged.

“The only drink I have to talk to people about is the Frappe,” he adds. “Absinthe is such a huge thing in New Orleans. It’s one of those if you don’t like black licorice, you’re going to hate it (the cocktail).”

The speakeasy’s slushies ($16-$18) have also been well received. Choose from Irish coffee — Bushmills Irish whiskey, cold brew and cream — and Henny Colada, made with Hennessy VS (an iconic cognac), coconut and pineapple. (During our visit, we were indecisive about the flavors, so Kamm gave us samples of both.)

Right now, the speakeasy features cocktails only; customers can go downstairs to Pint + Jigger to order food. However, a small food menu might be coming soon to Hush Hush, according to Kamm.

“Eventually, the goal is to be open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,” he says. “Our chef is (also) working on getting some food here; the idea is to continue wit the New Orleans scene (for the food menu).”

Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting at 6 p.m.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Hush Hush decor 070126

<title>Hush Hush is a new speakeasy in Pint + Jigger</title>

The speakeasy is currently open Fridays to Sundays for cocktails. The entrance is hidden in plain sight inside Pint + Jigger. The speakeasy’s menu now features a New Orleans-style theme with drinks like Sazerac, Grasshopper, and libations with absinthe.

Hush Hush is a new speakeasy in Pint + Jigger

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Business & Tourism

t has announced its next director and CEO, David Odo, who will start on Sept. 1.

Odo, who grew up in Kailua, is currently the director and chief curator at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia. There he oversees institutional vision and strategy, as well as fundraising, collections, educational direction, and more. 

Under Odo’s leadership, the Georgia Museum of Art had paid membership increase 67%, donors grow 8% and overall museum revenue increase 141%, according to numbers shared by HoMA.

“David brings the experience, vision and leadership that HoMA needs as we prepare to enter our second century,” said Amber Strong Makaiau, chair of HoMA’s board of trustees, in a written statement. “His record of strengthening museums through thoughtful strategic growth, sound institutional stewardship, and meaningful community engagement gives us every confidence that he is the right leader for HoMA at this important moment in our history. His understanding of Hawai‘i and international experience uniquely position him to lead the museum forward.”

, who led the museum for about a year, and former director 

, who led it for five years, from 2020 to 2025, before becoming director at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.   

He is the son of Franklin Odo, who helped found the 

 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Previously, he held leadership positions at Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Art Gallery

“I am honored to work alongside the Honolulu Museum of Art’s talented team, trustees, members, supporters, educators, and community partners at this important moment in its history,” said Odo, in a written statement. “HoMA holds a world-class collection, deep civic roots, and a community that has claimed it as its own for nearly a hundred years. What excites me is honoring that legacy while boldly positioning the museum for its next century.”

Founded in 1927, HoMA has more than 55,000 works for art from around the world. As a middle school student, Oda remembers being drawn to the sculptures in the Buddhism gallery.

“They sparked my curiosity about world religions,” he said, in a written statement. “That’s one of the things I love about art museums — they hold so much possibility to encourage one’s interest in a limitless number of subjects, and I’m excited to continue that legacy for others in our community.”

HoMA is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Fridays. Admission is $15 for kamaʻāina. It is free for youth 18 years old or younger, as well as college students attending Hawaiʻi state universities or colleges, and SNAP beneficiaries. 

David Odo

<title>HoMA announces new director and CEO</title>

The Honolulu Museum of Art has announced its next director and CEO, who will assume the role on Sept. 1. Learn more about the executive, who grew up in Kailua.

HoMA announces new director and CEO

Alika Garcia

Alika Peleholani Garcia

Viewpoints

Aloha Spirit

As a first responder during the recent Kona Low storms, I know that addressing the impact of natural disasters on human beings comes first: getting people to safety, protecting their homes when possible, and helping them begin the long road to recovery.

But when the rains stop and the flood waters settle, I wear another hat as the executive director of 

. In this role, I can see the otherwise unseen impact of such storms below the ocean’s surface and the way that extreme weather is affecting our nearshore reefs — and the long-term cost of this damage to our communities.

After the Kona Lows were over, I went underwater and saw it clearly: a thousand corals torn loose, flipped, or shattered by storm surge waves and flood debris. And that was just a tiny portion of the reef that encircles our entire island.

Across Oʻahu and throughout our pae ʻāina, the damage is real and widespread.

When corals are ripped out, we lose more than coral — we lose shelter for reef life, habitat for fish, and part of the reef’s natural ability to take the punch out of waves before they reach our shoreline. That loss affects our food systems, livelihoods and community health.

While repairing portions of the reef after the Kona Low damage, Kuleana Coral Restoration recently reached a milestone: 10,000 corals planted and repaired. The number is worth celebrating, but only if we understand what it represents.

A reef is not just coral. A reef is a community: fish moving through structure, crabs sheltering in crevices, shrimp flashing in and out of shade. When coral survives, it becomes structure and structure invites life back. That’s the neighborhood returning.

But we hold a firm truth alongside the celebration: planting corals is not enough by itself. Corals live within a system shaped by what happens above them. In Hawaiʻi, our reefs sit at the ma kai end of the water cycle where everything collects.

Mauka to makai water carries life. It also carries consequences. Our corals live downstream of our choices; what we allow to happen upstream affects the lived conditions for our reefs downstream. A Kona Low is an acute example of that connection, with damage to the land and stress underwater arriving together.

That connection can feel like a mirror of community health, especially for Kānaka communities trying to persist in a modern world that wasn’t built with our best interests in mind. Reefs get smothered, stressed, and pushed by forces bigger than any single organism can solve alone — not unlike the way that our people experience the socio-economic pressures that keep us from thriving in our homeland or that drive us away.

Coral restoration matters because coral is living architecture. It is housing underwater. When reef structure collapses, the smallest relatives lose shelter first. Planting and repairing corals helps rebuild that structure so life can return.

But just like housing on land, simply building more homes doesn’t solve the housing crisis. If the systemic forces that push families out remain unchanged, the crisis continues. Reefs face the same reality. If upstream pressures don’t change, coral planting becomes temporary.

However, “upstream” doesn’t mean “out of our control.” It means that changes must be made earlier in the system; what we choose, what we tolerate, what we prioritize, and what we build together. Durable reef recovery comes when we align coral restoration work in the ocean with actionable mālama ʻāina, from working to ensure that our freshwater streams are cleaner to making smarter shoreline decisions and everything in between.

And the urgency is growing. With oceans trending warmer and the possibility of a strong El Niño pattern this year, coral bleaching and more damaging storms become more likely.

When reefs are already weakened they can’t slow waves as well, and storms can hit our coastline harder. That’s why preparation matters: ready crews, ready communities, and a shared plan to respond both above and below sea level.

Planting 10,000 corals is not a finish line. It’s a beginning: repairing the reef neighborhood while strengthening the human community that protects it.

[{"type":"text","text":"By restoring reefs, our eldest kūpuna, we restore ourselves."}]

This article is reprinted with permission from 

OHA's Ka Wai Ola newspaper: "By Restoring Our Reefs We Restore Ourselves" by Alika Peleholani Garcia, in its June 2026 issue, Vol. 43 No. 6. Read more at 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Reef Repair Project2

Hau‘oli Lorenzo-Elarco and Kenika Lorenzo-Elarco

Hawai‘i History

Rather than framing ocean protection as a burden, we should instead ask why Pacific Island peoples, and our protected and sacred oceans, are forced to bear the unfair burden of industrial fishing, write two members of the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group.

Fishing Nets

Community Voices: Commercial fishing is not a cultural practice

Philamer Felicitas

Marine debris from lost or discarded commercial fishing nets to plastic and other waste carried to the ocean by streams, rivers and lakes, does not simply disappear at sea. Much of the debris collected in the massive Great Pacific Garbage Patch north of Hawaiʻi eventually converges on our shores — especially in Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary. Despite relatively little of this waste originating in Hawaiʻi, our local community continues bearing the responsibility of ongoing cleanup efforts to protect one of the most sacred and ecologically significant places on Earth.

Marine Debris KWO Cover

Community Voices: What preserving Papahānaumokuākea means below the surface

<title>Community Voices: By Restoring Our Reefs We Restore Ourselves</title>

When corals are ripped out, we lose more than coral — we lose shelter for reef life, habitat for fish, and part of the reef’s natural ability to take the punch out of waves before they reach our shoreline. That loss affects our food systems, livelihoods and community health, says Alika Peleholani Garcia, executive director of Kuleana Coral Restoration.

Community Voices: By Restoring Our Reefs We Restore Ourselves

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Columnists

Government & Politics

If you’re a street junkie, shooting up heroin in Chinatown, the State of Hawai‘i has your back. It’ll take our tax dollars and turn them into clean needles, so you can keep on shooting safely.

Fentanyl addict? Go for it! Chances are you’ll never get busted for public intoxication (though it’s a crime), or possession (a crime), and if you overdose, the state will once again turn tax dollars into Narcan to save your life. All your emergency rooms visits? Not to worry! “The people” have you covered with their tax dollars and inflated insurance premiums.

If you’re an alcoholic, the State of Hawai‘i just doesn’t care. Legislators drink, after all, they’re not going to go after their own Heineken and Merlot. Just don’t drink and drive, that’s the only area where we see public policy put any time and money. Everyone seems perfectly confident that ID checks at the liquor store are keeping booze out of the hands of children.

Love pot? Lucky you live Hawai‘i! Hawai‘i loves pot and Hawai‘i loves you! It’s de facto legal, based on how often you can smell pot in the open. And it’s trivially easy to go the law-abiding medical marijuana route. Tell a doctor you’re anxious, get a prescription and it’s off the pot pharmacy you go. Enjoy! After all, we’ve hashed this issue out for years now and all sensible people agree that drug prohibitions never work. You have to respect people’s choices and just legalize and tax their habit.

But if you’re a smoker who’d like to quit smoking cigarettes by going to a safer but similar alternative, this same State of Hawai‘i has just two words.

, Gov. Josh Green just signed a law that as of January 1, 2027, will ban “99.9% of disposable vapes” in Hawai‘i. Flanked by public health officials and the obligatory Child For Whom We Do This, he positively beamed with pride.

Over what, exactly? Doctor Governor Green should be aware that if harm reduction works for hard drugs, it certainly does with nicotine. The UK’s NHS (formerly known as the National Health Service), which is beloved by American Democrats as an ideal model of universal health care, has 

“In recent years, e-cigarettes have become a very popular stop smoking aid in the UK. Also known as vapes or e-cigs, they're far less harmful than cigarettes, and can help you quit smoking for good. … Many thousands of people in the UK have already stopped smoking with the help of an e-cigarette. There's evidence that they can be effective. A 2021 review found people who used e-cigarettes to quit smoking, as well as having expert face-to-face support, can be up to twice as likely to succeed as people who used other nicotine replacement products, such as patches or gum.”

Our reporter asked Green about that. He replied with skepticism, saying, “The biggest problem has been getting an entire generation … innumerable middle schoolers and high schoolers hooked,” Green said. “Society has found ways to quit traditional cigarettes through medical means, through behavioral techniques; we should lean on those.”

Does he even hear himself? He said this while signing an e-cig prohibition law. Not medical means, not behavioral techniques, no, just the ban hammer. Meanwhile, actual tobacco cigarettes, the really dangerous ones we didn’t ban, remain perfectly available.

Then Green put Lola Irvin on the spot for further comment on our question. Irvin is administrator of the state Department of Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division. As we reported, she said adults who have concurrently used traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes are less likely to successfully quit smoking, while young people who begin using e-cigarettes are more likely to transition to smoking traditional cigarettes.

[{"type":"text","text":"So much for harm reduction!"}]

Irvin seems unaware of the NHS findings I shared above about people successfully using e-cigs to quit tobacco cigarettes or reduce their intake. There are other studies.

Efficacy and Safety of E-Cigarette Use for Smoking Cessation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

,” for example, published in 2023 at The American Journal of Medicine. Conclusion: “Nicotine e-cigarettes were associated with increased smoking abstinence in comparison with non-nicotine e-cigarettes. Furthermore, nicotine and non-nicotine e-cigarettes increased abstinence compared with conventional smoking cessation therapies, and the absolute risk of [Serious Adverse Events] was low across all trials. Overall, these data suggest e-cigarettes appear to be more efficacious than conventional nicotine replacement or behavioral smoking cessation therapies.”

, published last November. “Nicotine e-cigarettes can help people to stop smoking for at least six months,” it concludes. “Evidence shows they work better than nicotine replacement therapy, and probably better than e-cigarettes without nicotine. They may work better than no support, or behavioral support alone, and may not be associated with serious unwanted effects.”

As for her arguments that e-cigs and vaping makes teenagers more likely to take up smoking real tobacco cigarettes, there are indeed studies that find teens given to try vices will try both vaping and smoking, sometimes in that order, sometimes the other way around. These studies find they’ll often also try pot and booze.

When you measure what youths actually do, however, the astonishing and wonderful fact is that 

peaked in 1997 at 36.4%, considerably higher than the adult rate that year of 24.7%. By 2021, the youth smoking rate dropped to just 3.8%, well below the adult rate of 11.5%.

That’s an 86% decline in just 24 years, across all ethnicities, sexes and grade levels.

And it has dropped even more since then, despite the arrival of e-cigs and vaping. As of 2024, according to the 

, just 1.4% of high school students reported any use of tobacco cigarettes.

, found that from 2022 to 2025, e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette use among youth further declined while nicotine pouch use remained low and stable.

In other words, we won the war on youth smoking, without any prohibitions at all. When our governor says that "an entire generation … innumerable middle schoolers and high schoolers" have just been "hooked" on nicotine, he is flat out lying. The exact opposite is true. 

Rather than declare victory and keep on with existing, obviously effective policies, Hawai‘i snatched a crisis from the jaws of success and enacted this ban.

Because they did so in part to “protect our keiki,” they had a student speak at yesterday's press conference, Maya Butts. The bathrooms at her school, Kalaheo High School, she said have become just “places to vape.”

That’s surely against school rules and is certainly already illegal, so this sounds like an enforcement problem to me. Except the enforcers failed to uphold existing law. Then she said:

“I’ve watched my smart, athletic friends completely lose their motivation. They got hooked on these devices that taste like candy, move on to other substances, then lose their spark altogether.”

I hate to break it to Butts, but if vaping makes her schoolmates lethargic and lazy, they aren’t vaping nicotine. They’re vaping pot.

But the ban is about more than health and protecting kids, Green said, and the text of the legislation argues. It’s about protecting the environment. In each disposable vape is a battery and these batteries are getting into the environment, they asserted, without data.

Setting aside the fact that I’ve never seen the gutters lined with thrown-away vapes the way one used to see cigarette butts, I’ll just note that this is the same state government that is forcing us to import batteries by the tons for our carbon-free solar future. A half-ton battery in every EV. Batteries the size of a Matson cargo container for the solar farms. All with no plan for their disposal or recycling.

OK, so if you dig into facts and find that there is no youth smoking crisis, and the stated rationalizations for the ban range from transparently bogus to logically inconsistent, what’s really going on here?

[{"type":"text","text":"Class warfare, that’s what."}]

Vaping nicotine is, by and large, a lower-middle class and working-class vice. Construction laborers, single moms working two or three jobs, people who ride the bus. People who rent. They have ambitions and aspirations constantly thwarted by Hawai‘i high cost of living and ridiculously unnecessary housing shortage.

They’re tired, they’re stressed. They turned, at some point in their lives, to Kool Milds and Marlboro Lights to deal with it all. They know smoking is bad, though, but quitting is hard. Smoking is a pleasure, it’s a consolation. It both calms anxiety and sharpens concentration.

Then, miracle of miracles, technology gave them a better choice. Tobacco-free nicotine they can inhale for the same soothing, sensual pleasures they got from smoking, with none of the known carcinogens, none of the pilau smell.

On the other hand, we have the upper-middle class and those who aspire to that status. Your governors, legislators, health department careerists and high school faculty. People with social capital and clout, if not vast wealth beyond the equity in their home that they own. Few to none of these white-collar, college-educated professionals ever smoked, or quit years ago. They know better.

[{"type":"text","text":"They took one look at vaping and thought, in unison:"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“That looks stupid. That looks tacky. That looks low-class.”"}]

That’s it. That’s the whole mindset. All the people who pushed this ban won’t say it, because they know how it sounds. No one wants to be seen as a snob and a Karen, they want to hide that. So they prop up children as human shields, gin up a non-existent crisis and use health and the environment as fig leaves.

All those smiling faces at that press conference? That’s the look of people gloating in triumph.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We took something stupid away from the stupid people! Yay, us!”"}]

That’s all that happened yesterday, and Hawai‘i is a better place as a result. For them.

A. Kam Napier is editor in chief of Aloha State Daily. His opinions in Pipikaula Corner are his own and not reflective of the ASD team.

Vapes i Stock 2232713126 16x9

<title>Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i's fraudulent vape ban</title>

On Tuesday, Hawai‘i Gov. Josh Green signed into law a ban on "99.9% of disposable vapes." It's a move totally at odds with the harm reduction strategies the state uses for all other vices, argues ASD Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier. And it's in response to a non-existent crisis, in that teen smoking and vaping is the lowest it's ever been in a quarter century.

Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i's fraudulent vape ban

IMG 1445

Rick Hamada

Sports

The recent announcements of professional golf events exiting Hawai‘i unfortunately left us without a seat at the PGA table.

[{"type":"text","text":"The operative word is unfortunate. "}]

, the demise of the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Maui. It seemed the decision to halt the play in 2026 was based on Valley Isle water issues. The lack of water caused the deterioration of the Kapalua golf course which rendered it unplayable. This was the official explanation from Tour officials in justifying the ending of the PGA Tournament of Champions which has led off the annual PGA season since 1999.

[{"type":"text","text":"But was that the only reason? "}]

Rumors and speculation surrounded the exit of the PGA Sony Open, played at Wai‘alae Country Club on O‘ahu, when the Sentry ended and Sony, the tournament sponsor, did not renew its commitment to continue before its current contract expired. There were no water issues for Waialae; no logistical issues. But there were issues with the PGA Tour itself.

This is despite the fact that PGA golf featuring The Sony Open (and other titles) was first played in 1965 and made Wai‘alae Country Club its official home since 1971. The Sony Open personified the tradition, history, longevity, and legacy that the game celebrates. After 56 years, it came to an abrupt and unceremonious end.

I believe Hawai‘i PGA golf is the victim of the reformation of the tour and the game itself.

A benchmark in this reformulation of the professional game can be found on a golf course in Arizona. Specifically, it can be found on the 16th hole of this Arizona golf course.

That course would be TPC Scottsdale and, yes, that would be Scottsdale, Arizona.

The tournament is the Phoenix Open, better known by the sponsor's name, The Waste Management.

How can this tournament lead to the most radical and unprecedented changes in professional golf?

The game of professional golf is like no other professional sporting endeavor. It's not about teams but individuals. There are no referees, only players are trusted to know and adhere to the rules and to self-report any infractions. There is an etiquette along with expected sportsmanship during and after play that differentiates the professional game from all others. These fundamentals are ideally emulated by amateurs and there's a level of conduct expected even during casual play.

Except on the 16th hole of TPC Scottsdale during the Waste Management tournament.

It's on this stadium par-3 where all conventions are gleefully thrown out the window. The seating layout creates a 

. When the gates open, fans will make a mad dash running to the 16th hole just to get a seat. It's here where you'll find more beer and beverage sales than you will anywhere else. Music blares and everybody is up and dancing or the unrecognizable equivalent. Yes, it's a party.

Most players accept it and join in. A few take a pass on the Waste Management because it's not their favorite brand of scotch. OK, we get it. But you'll have players who will chug a beer on the tee and take their shirts off if they birdie the hole. But the most raucous and exuberant moment is when a player hits a hole-in-one. Oh dear, hide the children. The stadium erupts in screams of joy, plastic beer cups (most are full) come raining down from the stands and the players are for that incredible moment worshipped and glorified by fans. It's incredible!

It was this event, this theater that was the catalyst in the creation of LIV Golf.

Led by PGA legend Greg Norman and PGA Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson and fueled by what was considered an endless supply of Saudi money, LIV Golf wanted to, literally, change the accepted concept of professional golf.

The changes seemed rudimentary, but they weren't. LIV is Roman Numeral for 54 which is the number of holes played in a round compared to 72 holes in a PGA tournament. Less demand on a player. Players could wear shorts during tournaments. Fan participation is encouraged, and music has a presence. There was no cut — meaning if you qualified to play then you'd get paid. And getting paid was huge.

In order to give instant credibility to LIV, Norman and others lured top PGA players with guaranteed contracts in the millions of dollars. And it worked. Stars such as John Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson (all PGA Major winners) and others. Rahm reportedly was signed to a $300 million contract in 2023 and has amassed $87 million in tournament winnings. Mickelson got a $200 million deal with Koepka reportedly getting a $130 million contract. Other name players took in millions, too. 

In 2026, the death of LIV Golf was announced. World economic conditions forced the Saudis to stop the flow of billions of dollars to what had become a poor investment. LIV never caught on with fans domestically or internationally and as quickly as it began it was over. Thus, closing one of the most bizarre chapters in golf history.

But the influence of LIV on the PGA Tour was unmistakable and leads us to the demise of PGA Golf in Hawai‘i.

During the tumultuous and controversial days of LIV, the PGA Tour had to figure out a way to stop the encroachment. This led to unprecedented financial review and overhaul of tournament play and purses. It was clear the PGA Tour had to take care of loyal members who did not defect to LIV but players were concerned with the tour business model that affected their earnings.

[{"type":"text","text":"So, the PGA Tour made some changes."}]

In 2023, the tour introduced designated events which became known as PGA Tour Signature events featuring limited top ranked players competing for dramatically higher purses. This, of course, was in direct response to LIV Golf money. There are also other significant incentives but suffice it to say this was a revolutionary change.

During this time there were debates among the PGA Tour elites of how to stop LIV, to never allow this to happen again and plot a course to strengthen and evolve the professional game for the future.

[{"type":"text","text":"Fast forward to the present."}]

, "The PGA Tour has approved recommendations from the Future Competition Committee that will dramatically reshape the tour's competitive structure starting in 2028, the tour announced Tuesday. ... Among other changes, the tour's new model will include two separate series of tournaments — the PGA Tour Championship Series and PGA Tour Challenger Series — that will run concurrently during the season. The Challenger Series will be the primary pathway to the Championship Series, with golfers competing to advance to the top track, including in-season elevation with two victories.

"The PGA Tour hopes the sweeping changes will bring 'competitive clarity and heightened consequence' and 'deliver a stronger, more compelling experience for fans, players and partners.'"

[{"type":"text","text":"And here it is."}]

The restructuring of the PGA Tour schedule and the two-tier model was the death knell for the Sentry on Maui and the Sony Open on O‘ahu. 

The disparity of purses between the Championship tier and the Challenger tier is profound. Sponsors of Championship events are expected to pay a minimum of $20 million in prize money while purses on Challenger tier events are a minimum of $4 million. That 5X multiplier in funding disparity is obviously troubling for players and others.

Oh, and one of the provisions is there are no longer sponsor exemptions, meaning sponsors have no say in who they can invite to play. Naming players whom a sponsor believes is good for their business is no longer an option. The depth of name players in tournaments is compromised. If a name player is on the Challenger tour, he cannot play in a Championship tier event. And vice versa. So sponsors are in a "take it or leave it" situation.

You know why the Sentry left Maui? Because Farmers Insurance was a premier sponsor on the PGA Tour for decades. They looked around at changes and said, we're done. Sentry was installed as sponsor of the legendary event at Torrey Pines replacing Farmers Insurance.

What was really behind the water controversy at Kapalua? The course conditions recovered and, theoretically, the tournament didn't have to leave permanently. I submit the PGA Tour knew Farmers was departing, there was a need for a premium sponsor, and nobody was knocking the door down to step in. Let's end the Sentry on Maui and bring the sponsor back to the Mainland with a higher, well, everything. Again, this is not accusatory, but it is my speculative opinion.

[{"type":"text","text":"The PGA Tour threw Hawai‘i a bone."}]

There remains a PGA Champions Tour event on the Big Island the first of each year. 

The Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualālai features senior tour players who won major tournaments over the past five years and other tournament players who won over the past two years plus, yes, sponsor exemptions. It's a great tournament with a wonderful reputation among sponsors, players, fans, and the community.

[{"type":"text","text":"I mentioned the PGA Tour threw Hawai‘i a bone."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Well, that's from their perspective. "}]

My perspective is that it's a benefit for Hawai‘i given the loss of two PGA Tour events.

First of all, back-to-back images of beautiful Hawai‘i broadcast globally during what fr most people is winter is invaluable. 

I am not certain of the dollar amount but revenue generation is important and appreciated.

Charitable impact to local communities will continue and regardless on the dollar amount it is also appreciated.

Those of us of a certain age, and there's a bunch of us, love senior players. To meet and greet and cheer on some of the legends we grew up with or who are contemporaries is exciting. Golf fans will love to see current senior players like Stewart Cink (the top senior player today), Berhard Langer, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els and, hopefully, Freddy Couples. 

We fret locally about what Hawai‘i might've done wrong to lose major golf tournaments, but ASD opinion columnist Rick Hamada says that changes within the golf industry itself made the loss inevitable.

Daily Smile: Saturday, January 10, 2026

ASD Staff

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Daily Smile: Saturday, January 10, 2026

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ASD Staff

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