Former LIV Golf winner Eugenio Chacarra is turning the page.
The 24-year-old Chacarra, whose contract with Fireballs GC was not renewed for this upcoming season, chose not to compete in last month’s LIV Promotions event, recently telling Flushing It Golf that he was frustrated by LIV’s inability to secure world-ranking points or pathways into the major championships, and that his new goal is to earn his PGA Tour card.
“When I joined LIV, they promised OWGR [points] and majors,” Chacarra said. “But it didn’t happen. I trusted them.”
A fiery flusher from Madrid, Chacarra signed with LIV as the world’s second-ranked amateur in June 2022, foregoing a fifth season at Oklahoma State, and he won in just his fifth start with the Saudi-backed circuit, in Bangkok. While he failed to crack the top 30 in individual points in each of the past two seasons on LIV and was not signed by another team this offseason, he’s had some success on the Asian Tour with five top-6 finishes since turning pro, including a win at last year’s St. Andrews Bay Championship. He made his major debut at last summer’s U.S. Open after getting through final qualifying.
Chacarra is currently ranked No. 325 in the Official World Golf Ranking, 319 spots behind Ludvig Aberg, who turned pro that same summer. Chacarra said, in his eyes, there are parallels between their young pro careers; it’s just that Aberg has received more rewards (major exemptions and last year’s Ryder Cup berth among them) and more attention.
“On LIV, I’m the only young guy who’s won, and they never talk about me,” Chacarra adds. “They always talk about the same guys.”
Meanwhile, LIV pulled its bid for OWGR recognition last March after previously being denied. It also reduced the number of cards available via its qualifying tournament to only one and didn’t even promote the top performer from the Asian Tour’s International Series as Joaquin Niemann won the season-ending Saudi International to top that points race.
“I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how your life changes, how you get major access and ranking points,” Chacarra explained in his interview with Flushing It. “On LIV, nothing changes; there is only money. It doesn’t matter if you finish 30th or first, only money. I’m not a guy who wants more money. What will change my life is playing in Hawaii and qualifying for the majors, qualifying for the Masters, the Ryder Cup.”
The Spanish outlet El Periodi Golf also spoke with Chacarra, whom it reported earned close to $30 million in his three seasons on LIV. Chacarra said in that interview that he “wasn’t completely happy.”
“It has nothing to do with the team or the teammates, it was a question of motivation,” Chacarra said. “I wanted to play majors, play more. In the end, 14 weeks a year is not enough for me.”
Though he’s never held PGA Tour status of any kind, Chacarra is suspended from Tour-sanctioned competition until Sept. 23. His ban would expire before first stage of PGA Tour Q-School begins (Chacarra should be exempt through pre-qualifying because he made a DP World Tour cut last year).
In the interim, Chacarra will compete in Asia while seeking sponsor exemptions on the DP World Tour.
“I’m very thankful for what they’ve done,” Chacarra added of LIV, “but my mind is different now, and I want to get to what I was dreaming about when I was little. Because obviously LIV didn’t exist when I was growing up. I was watching Tiger Woods winning on the PGA Tour and I want to do that.”
