The former LIV winner’s complaints underscore what is broken with professional golf

When then-amateur star Eugenio Chacarra joined LIV Golf in the summer of 2022, it was another coup for the so-called “rebel league,” which had already disrupted the men’s professional game by leaving the PGA Tour like Dustin Johnson. , Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

At the time, Chacarra was Oklahoma State’s No. 1 amateur. 2 in the world in the world. The Spaniard’s decision to go to LIV was a warning sign that the PGA Tour could be in danger of having its pipeline of talent eroded from LIV’s checkbook. If many of the tournament’s stars and some of its potential future stars leave, what then?

While Koepka, DeChambeau and Johnson were Phase 1 for LIV, players like Chacarra were supposed to be the next step for the breakaway league. Instead, less than three years later, Chacarra is now in LIV’s rear view mirror after the league did not renew his contract and Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs did not retain him after finishing the season in the “Drop Zone”.

On his way out, Chacarra aired some of his LIV grievances in multiple interviews last week, most notably with Flushing It Golf and Hugo Costa, a journalist for Golf Channel Latin America.

Chacarra’s run-ins with LIV weren’t groundbreaking and are unlikely to hurt the league, which begins its fourth season in a few weeks. But the 24-year-old has problems with a league it’s all about the money were a lesson – and further proof – of what has plagued golf’s top ranks during this period of turmoil, and why there seems to be no end in sight.

Broken trust

Chacarra’s main beef centered on something LIV’s critics pointed to early on as one of the league’s fundamental problems: its inability to provide world ranking points and major championship starts for those who are not already excluded.

“I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how it changes your life,” Chacarra told Flushing It. “How do you get big access and ranking points. In LIV, nothing changes, it’s just money. It doesn’t matter if you finish 30th or first, just 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.

“When I joined LIV, they promised OWGR and diploma. But it didn’t happen. I believed them. I was the first new guy, then others came after I made the decision. But OWGR and diploma still hasn’t happened.”

Indeed, Greg Norman’s pledge to provide OWGR points and access to majors helped lure some players to the fledgling league. Norman, who was LIV’s first commissioner, has yet to follow through on that promise, and it’s unclear how much good-faith effort LIV made to meet OWGR’s criteria before withdrawing its application.

From the outside, it looked like Norman and LIV thought they could force governing bodies to comply rather than conform to the criteria. “What are you going to do, not give points to the world rankings of Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau?” As it turned out, the answer was a resounding yes, leaving players like Chacarra in limbo.

The consequences

As many players are learning during golf’s period of turmoil, actions have consequences.

Be it Sergio Garcia’s reported disability be it Ryder Cup captain or the one-year suspension Chacarra must now serve before pursuing his PGA Tour card, getting the money didn’t come without a cost.

Chacarra’s career – at least as he described it – was simply a pawn in a global golf war. Now, it’s up to him to pick up the pieces.

“I am grateful for everything LIV has given me” Chacarra told Flushing It. “I am 24 years old and my life is decided. I don’t know if it will work for good or not, but I know this is what my heart tells me is right and it works for my motivation to wake up and get better and say that I can be a PGA Tour Player one day.

“So this decision is the best for me. I am very grateful for what they have done, but my mind is different now and I want to achieve what I dreamed of when I was little. 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.”

Chacarra told Flushing It that he has phone calls with the PGA Tour to see if there are ways for him to compete sooner.

“I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing to get to Korn Ferry or the PGA Tour as soon as possible,” Chacarra said.

But for now, Chacarra will have to settle for the Asian tour. He said he hopes to get some sponsor invitations to the DP world tour.

ego

During his conversation with Flushing It, Chacarra also spoke about world No. 6 Ludvig Aberg. The two competed against each other in college when Aberg was at Texas Tech and Chacarra at Oklahoma State.

Aberg’s star has had a meteoric rise since turning pro. The 25-year-old Swede won the 2023 RSM Classic, finished second at the 2024 Masters and acquitted himself well in Europe’s winning week at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Chacarra won LIV Bangkok in 2022, but didn’t get the same treatment he sees Aberg getting.

“I’m a winner and I’ve never been treated like a winner,” Chacarra said. “On the PGA Tour, Ludvig Aberg has one win, and I have one win at LIV. He has a European Tour win and I have an international series win in the Asian Tour. So we have similar careers, but he has a lot more experience and plays a lot more majors, but we have the same wins.

“We have done similar. Which tournaments I can play in, I have won. Same thing with him. But he is the number 6 player in the world and everyone is talking about him. But in LIV, I’m the only young guy who 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.”

The irony here is that it was Chacarra’s decision to join the LIV that prompted the PGA Tour to create two direct paths for college players to gain direct access to the PGA Tour. Aberg was the first player to earn the status by finishing atop the PGA Tour University rankings.

Since then, Aberg has stepped up while Chacarra battled injuries at LIV, scoring just two top-10s since his win at LIV Bangkok.

Self-preservation

The quotes from Chacarra make for a good story, but it’s important to note that the 24-year-old could have been snapped up by another LIV team if there was any interest. Both Bubba Watson and Branden Grace were “sent down” but returned to their teams.

Chacarra’s contract was not renewed and there appears to have been no interest in bringing him back. Would he still have left LIV if he was interested? Only Chacarra can answer that.

With Chacarra’s career at an early crossroads, it’s understandable that he would go public with his struggles and position himself as a player ready to return to the PGA Tour. The Tour has lost a number of players since LIV’s debut, but hasn’t seen anyone rejoin due to what Hudson Swafford described as a dark road back.

“I don’t know, the Tour has a hard stance on a (one) year suspension (for players who joined LIV Golf); there are some really gray things going on with LIV and I didn’t know if I was going to get back with LIV. Swafford told Golf Channel in December about trying to return to the Tour. “I tried to get back (on the PGA Tour) last year, I talked to (Jason Gore, the Tour’s senior vice president, player advisor to the commissioner) and (Monahan) and I thought I did everything very heartily, I just I told them how I felt. They could never give me an answer.”

After playing for three seasons at LIV, Chacarra said he is financially set for life. But he still has golf dreams to fulfill and, for now, several avenues to pursue. Taking an open shot at LIV and signaling to the tournament that he wants to be one of the first to return is just Chacarra doing what he does best. players at the highest level of professional golf have been doing since breaking – taking care of themselves.

That’s what got us here in the first place, and why we’re still here.