[Photo: Stuart Franklin]
Former LIV Golf member Eugenio Chacarra has been granted a sponsor’s exemption into a PGA Tour event next week, the latest sign that the tour is gradually reopening its doors to players who previously jumped ship to the Saudi-backed league.
Chacarra, 25, was once considered among the world’s brightest young golfing prospects. A former All-American at Oklahoma State, he rose to number two in the World Amateur Golf Ranking before turning professional and joining LIV in 2022. He claimed victory in just his fifth start as a pro, winning LIV’s Bangkok event, and looked set for a long stint with the breakaway league.
But things soon soured. Chacarra struggled in the seasons that followed and became disillusioned with what he called broken promises around major championship exemptions and world ranking points—two things that matter most to any player with ambitions beyond a big pay cheque.
“On LIV, nothing changes; there is only money,” he told Flushing It Golf last year. “It doesn’t matter if you finish thirtieth or first, only money.”
In the end, the money wasn’t enough. Chacarra left LIV at the end of the 2024 season, citing a gradual loss of motivation and a desire to play where results actually shape your career. He landed a spot on the DP World Tour thanks to a sponsor’s invite and didn’t waste time making his mark, winning the 2025 Hero Indian Open to secure full-time status. On Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced he’ll get a start in next week’s Puerto Rico Open, which runs opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Speaking to the media, Chacarra was frank about why he walked away from LIV and where his true ambitions have always been.
“I think I was losing a bit of motivation to get better out there on LIV during my last year, so it was time for me to move on and start a new chapter in my professional career,” he said. “Obviously I dreamed since I was little—LIV didn’t even exist when I was a kid. I grew up watching the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, and that’s what I dream of playing and winning, and that’s always been where my heart and ambition lie. So we thought it was the best move for me to try to get on the PGA Tour.”
He also reflected on the challenge of returning to stroke play, with cuts, different tee times, and full fields—the nitty-gritty of pro golf that LIV had done away with.
“It gave me a bit more of what real golf is,” Chacarra said of his time on the European Tour. “Having a cut, having to grind, playing every week against a lot of players. It’s good to see where my game is at, what I need to work on to be one of the best, and to make it onto the PGA Tour quickly.”
Chacarra enters the week ranked 141st in the Official World Golf Ranking. Last year, James Piot became the first ex-LIV player to receive a PGA Tour sponsor’s exemption, competing in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. But the landscape has shifted a fair bit since then. With Brooks Koepka having returned to Tour play and Patrick Reed soon to follow, Chacarra’s invitation is more than a one-off—it’s a quiet but clear sign that the Tour is prepared to welcome back former LIV players, provided they’re willing to earn their place.
