He left LIV Golf to chase his PGA Tour dreams. Now they are caught by him
Eugenio Chacarra wanted more. After Sunday's win at the Italian Open, his second in a row on the DP World Tour, he has managed to hold on.
Chacarra was one of the best novices in the world when he left LIV Golf in 2022. His future was bright, and his decision to join the guerilla league was seen as a major coup – LIV's way of robbing budding young talent before they even hit the PGA Tour. Chacarra won at LIV in its first season but then saw his game decline as he struggled with injuries. Sergio Garcia's Fireballs did not renew his contract at the end of the 2024 season, and Chacarra said he left LIV Golf with a renewed sense of what he wants in professional golf. He said at LIV “there's only money,” and pointed to the success and admiration Ludvig Aberg, who was in Chacarra's novice class, found on the PGA Tour. That was what he wanted, what he had wanted before he strayed from his original plan.
“I see what it's like to win on the PGA Tour and how it changes your life,” Chacarra told Flushing It in 2025. “How to get big reach and ranking. In LIV, nothing has changed, only money. It doesn't matter if you turn 30 or first, only money. I'm not a guy who wants more money. What will change my life to qualify for the Master of the Hawaii Ryder Cup.
“I know that this is what my heart tells me is right and it works for my motivation to get up and grind to be better, and to say that I can be a PGA Tour player one day,” Chacarra told Flushing It. “So this decision is the best for me. I'm very grateful for what I did, but my mindset is different now and I want to reach what I dreamed of when I was young. Because obviously LIV didn't exist when I was growing up. I was watching Tiger Woods win on the PGA Tour, and I want to do that.”
So Chacarra left LIV Golf, served a one-year PGA Tour suspension and played on the DP World Tour with sponsor invitations to try to climb the professional ladder to where he wanted to be – the PGA Tour. He won last year's Hero Indian Open, but his performance faltered at the end of the year, causing him to miss out on promotion to the PGA Tour, which is awarded to the top 10 players on the DP World Tour finals list.
This year, Chacarra played even better.
One month ago, Chacarra dropped out of the US Open qualifiers before he had a chance to earn another spot. Chacarra needed to catch a flight to Belgium to prepare for that week's Soudal Open. Playing in the US Open is important, but Chacarra's path to his dreams is to play well on the European circuit for the rest of the 2026 season. He finished T22 that week and T12 the following week in Turkey. He then won the following week at the KLM Open. That win moved him up to No. 6 in the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai Standings, putting him at the pinnacle of his dreams.
On Sunday at the Italian Open, Chacarra secured the goal he had been chasing – this one postponed to LIV Golf.
He entered Sunday at Circolo Golf Torino with a two-shot lead over Joaquin Niemann and Matt Wallace. Up against two of the top 100 players in the world, Chacarra has handled his toughest test on the DP World Tour so far flawlessly. When Wallace went for eagle the first time and drove in the fourth, he pulled even with Chacarra.
Then, Chacarra lifted up and broke away from his opponents. He birdied 5, 8, 9 and 10 to grab a big lead and then made an eagle on the par-5 15th to put the tournament on ice.
Chacarra's final tally on Sunday? A bogey-free 64 and a five-shot win. That win moves him up to No. 3 on the list and second on the all-time list behind only Patrick Reed.
“Yes, a win is always good, but that's what we're working for,” Chacarra said after his win in Italy. “I've been doing it for a long time [some] amazing work over the past few years, and I'm very proud of myself.
“I think it was a good fight; two world-class players, probably two of the best players in the world. It's what I dreamed of since I was little, to play with those types of players until the end. I'm very proud of the way I played and the way I behaved today.”
Chacarra's win also earned him a spot in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. It will be his first start at the Open Championship. He will likely play the co-sanctioned Scottish Open before then.
He has a long summer of golf ahead of him. But Eugenio Chacarra, once one of the best young talents in the world, is finally at the door of his dreams, proving that dreams deferred need not be dreams forgotten.
“I have proven who I am,” said Chacarra on Sunday. “When I was young, I was one of the best players in America and I want to be one of the best players in professional golf.
