Hawai'i's showcase PGA Tour events, the Mercedes Championship and Sony Open, will be among those shown on The Golf Channel next year as part of the tour's new television package announced yesterday.

They have been shown the past six years on ESPN, where today's first round of the Sony Open tees off.

ABC and its cable partner, ESPN, have been replaced by CBS and NBC along with The Golf Channel. The Golf Channel will be the tour's exclusive cable partner for 15 years. Terms of the agreement were not announced.

Mike Dyer, Sony vice president for sports and event promotions, said it is "too early for us to make any real determination since the detailed information on exactly how it will impact the Sony Open is not absolutely clear at this point in time."

Dyer said this week's tournament is the last of the current four-year deal with the PGA Tour and a new deal will take Sony through 2010.

ESPN is currently in more than 90 million households compared to The Golf Channel's 70 million. "Obviously they (The Golf Channel) have a very strong and dedicated following especially when it comes to golf and since there will be more consistency, people will know that it will be The Golf Channel you go to to see golf across the board throughout the season," Dyer said. "So, I think that consistency will actually be a plus over time."

Mark Rolfing, who does commentary for NBC, The Golf Channel and Golf Hawai'i, said he believes The Golf Channel will be good for Hawai'i's events.

"The thing I really like about it, the reason I think it is so good for Hawai'i, is the focus is going to be on The Golf Channel when they start and they're really going to have to blow out these (first) two weeks," Rolfing said. "They're going to have to really promote it, make it a big deal and, in general, I think that will be good for the events. We sort of limped into the season last week (at Mercedes) and I think you'll really see them go all out to make these things big."