KAPALUA, Maui >> With the loss of the Pro Bowl to Orlando, the state of Hawaii can ill afford for the PGA Tour to follow suit once the sponsorship contracts with the SBS Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open in Hawaii end later this decade.

But if new tour commissioner Jay Monahan has anything to say about it, these two tournaments will be in the 50th state for the foreseeable future and remain on the schedule the first two weeks of January.

Monahan has been on the job for less than a week after replacing Tim Finchem, who was the tour’s unquestioned leader for 22 years. Monahan is the fourth commissioner in tour history and faces numerous challenges on several fronts as he tries to keep 47 events in place and three times that many players happy with the direction of his leadership.

Monahan held an informal press conference with select members of the media in a wide-ranging interview that lasted an hour during the early part of Saturday’s third round of the Tournament of Champions.

He was asked questions about rearranging the schedule so the FedEx Cup finale ended before the start of the NFL season as well as transparency when dealing with suspensions and fines, and how to address slow play.

Tiger Woods was certainly in the conversation and what he means to the tour as a whole, but for local golf fans, questions about the future of the two Hawaii tournaments moved front and center. Monahan was clear that these two events are in good standing and that any thoughts of them leaving the islands after 2019 would seem unlikely.

“I expect to be dealing with you for a long time to come this week and then next week,” Monahan said when the Star-Advertiser asked where these tournaments fit into the PGA Tour’s future plans. “I think that as it relates to this (Maui) tournament, I think there has been some question about sponsorship. And I will say two things, SBS is with us through 2019.

“They are our media rights holder in Korea as you know. Hyundai is a partner of theirs. They brought Hyundai in. Hyundai has now moved to Los Angeles. I think they would like to see another brand come in. We are taking an active role in finding a replacement sponsor. If I’m not worried about it, I don’t think you should be worried about it. And we’ve been here for 50 years. And I think it’s a part of the fabric and part of the core of who we are as an organization. It’s an important part of our season. And we will do everything we can to be here.”

Monahan also addressed the idea of moving these tournaments back or forward a week to allow the players extra time with their families during the holidays, but he dismissed that idea.

“Is it practical? I’m not so sure,” the 46-year-old said.

He added that he likes the idea of them remaining during the first two weeks of January.

“Yes, absolutely do,” he said. “It’s not a matter of what I think. It’s a matter of what the players think. I think if you’re going to move it up into December if you really think about that or if you are going to move it one week back: What’s going to change?

“Because as much as we love being here you’ve got a solid set of tournaments that come out of this week. And this creates, I think, a certain level of excitement into those tournaments. So, we think it works well. But there’s always thought and I wouldn’t want to commit to one thing forever. But I don’t see much changing on that front.”

Spieth draws a crowd

Defending champion Jordan Spieth commanded the largest gallery during Saturday’s third round, despite not being in the chase. The Dallas native carded another double bogey, his second of the tournament, to go along with a triple bogey he had on Friday to stand alone in 19th at 8-under 211.

Had Spieth just parred those three holes, he would be alone in third at 15 under for the tournament just three shots off the lead. And it’s not as if it’s the same holes. He doubled the second hole on Saturday, the eighth on Friday and tripled the 17th on Friday as well. He shot a 69 during that round, thanks to nine birdies. He also had two bogeys in the first round and another three on Saturday.

“Yeah, really pleased with the way we can streak the right direction, five birdies in a row or 5 under in six holes,” Spieth said. “Really pleased with that part of my game. On this golf course with how wide the fairways are and how big the greens are, you really should not play many over-par holes. And to have five the last two days; I mean, last year, I may have had one bogey each round, instead of those five. That’s nine shots, I’m in the lead. So, it’s close. It’s really close. Just a little bit of bad timing and a couple bad breaks that I didn’t have last year.”

Inside the numbers

The scoring average for Saturday’s round was the lowest of the week at 69.938. The hardest hole was the par-4 17th with a scoring average of 4.219. There were two birdies, 22 pars, seven bogeys and one double. The easiest hole was the par-5 fifth for the second straight day at 4.188. There was one eagle to go along with 26 birdies, three pars and two bogeys.