“It’s frustrating, but I’m excited for the new opportunity and to see where my game takes me.” “I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how your life changes,” Chacarra said. “How you get major access and ranking points. On LIV, nothing changes, there is only money. It doesn’t matter if […]
“It’s frustrating, but I’m excited for the new opportunity and to see where my game takes me.”
“I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how your life changes,” Chacarra said. “How you get major access and ranking points. 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.
Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra, who is only 24, made a ton of money on LIV Golf for mostly mediocre performances over the last three years. The former Oklahoma State star got his pro career off with a bang, winning in Bangkok in only his fifth start. That ended up being Chacarra’s peak, because over the last two years, he’s notched two top-10 finishes in 27 starts and never sniffed another victory.
Chacarra, however, became expendable to LIV after average event finishes of 26th and 32nd in 48-man fields over 2023-24, and his contract was not renewed for 2025 on captain Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC. With no opportunity to play for one year on the PGA Tour after his last LIV event, per tour rules, he’s a man without a home tour at the moment, and it sounds like he may be regretting everything but the money.
Chacarra, who will play later this month in the Asian Tour’s International Series, on which he had two top-five finishes in 2024, and hopes for some exemptions on the DP World Tour, might have strayed a bit off point in the interview when he compared himself to Ludvig Aberg. The 23-year-old Swede already is a legitimate star on the PGA Tour, with a Ryder Cup appearance, one win each on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and a rise to No. 6 in the World Ranking. (Chacarra is 325th.)
“When I joined LIV, they promised OWGR and majors. But it didn’t happen. I trusted them. I was the first young guy, then the others came after I made the decision. But OWGR and majors still hasn’t happened.
Chacarra contends that LIV’s leadership made him feel as if it’d only be a matter of time before the circuit was afforded Official World Golf Ranking points and the ability to qualify for the majors. But, fighting headwinds from OWGR, LIV withdrew its application in March 2024. Each major has handled inviting LIV players deemed worthy.
In an interview with the “Flushing It” podcast, Chacarra said, “I’m thankful for everything LIV has given me. I’m 24 years old, and my life is set. I don’t know if it will work out for the best or not, but I know this is what my heart tells me is right and it works for my motivation to wake up and grind and get better, and to say I can be a PGA Tour player one day.”
Still, his bank account swelled by more than million combined in those three seasons, aside from whatever original signing bonus he got. That pencils out to more than 5,000 per start. Nearly anybody in the game would take that kind of return.
“So this decision is what’s best for me. I’m very thankful for what they’ve done, 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.”
“I’m a winner and I was never treated like a winner [on LIV],” Chacarra said. “On the PGA Tour, Ludvig Aberg has one win, and I have one win on LIV. He has one win on the European Tour, and I have one win on the International Series on the Asian Tour. So we have similar careers, but he has way more experience and plays way more big tournaments, but we have the same wins.
“We have performed similar. What tours I can play on, I have won. Same with him. But he’s the No. 6 player in the world and everyone talks about him. But on LIV, I’m the only young guy who’s won, and they never talk about me. They always talk about the same guys. I’m not blaming them, they probably know more, but they don’t really care about the young guys much.
