Eugenio Chacarra had to be somewhere and he had a choice to make. He chose the bigger picture.
Chacarra, a former member of LIFE Golfdefeated him in the final qualification of the US Open in Dallas Athletic Club on monday. The 26-year-old went six-to-one in the playoffs for the ninth and final ticket available in Dallas. Caleb Surratt, who currently plays in the Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII squad at LIV, bogeyed the first playoff hole to drop to last place Shinnecock Hills. But there were still two alternative spots to play.
Chacarra, however, opted out of eligibility, giving up his chance to be on the alternate roster for Shinnecock Hills.
Ryan French of Monday’s Q Info was the first to point out the curious situation unfolding at the Dallas Athletic Club.
According to some people. Very strange 6 to 1 playoff scenario.
Caleb Surratt birdied the first hole to win. The other five players did the same level and continued to play for the first and second alts. Both very important on this site.
And Eugenio Chacarra just left. I’m not sure what…
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) May 19, 2026
Chacarra responded to French’s post on X, explaining that he left the Dallas Athletic Club to catch a flight so he could properly prepare to make it to this week’s Soudal Open in Belgium on the DP World Tour.
I left because my goal is to get my pga tour card through Dp tour and for me to prepare belgium the right way was to take that flight.
When you fly to Europe, you lose a day and that was the only chance I had to get there in time to get some rest and practice the course— Eugenio Chacarra (@Eugeniochacarra) May 19, 2026
Chacarra recorded his first DP World Tour win last year at the Hero Indian Open, but ultimately finished 36th in the Race To Dubai standings and 25th among players not already banned from the PGA Tour. The top 10 players who are not already out of the Race to Dubai rankings at the end of the season receive their PGA Tour card. So far this season, Chacarra ranks 13th among non-excluded players, just outside the cap. But he is only 49 points behind Bernd Weisberger, who also played at LIV, for 10th place. Patrick Reed leads the rankings after winning in Dubai and Bahrain earlier this year.
Some users on X questioned why Chacarra chose to do it in the final qualifier in Dallas instead of the one at Walton Heath Golf Club in the UK, which would have given him a shorter flight to Belgium. The former Oklahoma State standout explained that he chose the course of convenience over logistics. He succeeded by qualifying for Dallas 2024.
It was, but I’m not very good at golf links and I hit it at the Dallas Athletic Club the last time it was there. It fits my eye well and I also live in Tulsa which is a 4 hour drive and I was home the week off after the Barcelona event.
— Eugenio Chacarra (@Eugeniochacarra) May 19, 2026
Chacarra joined LIV shortly after it launched in 2022. He was the #2 ranked amateur in the world at the time and a star at Oklahoma State. He won LIV Bangkok in the summer of 2022, but his play faltered as he struggled with injuries and his contract with Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs was not renewed after the 2024 season. While exiting LIV, Chacarra voiced his grievances about the breakaway league in interviews with several media outlets, noting that the league was only about the money.
“I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how it changes your life,” Chacarra said Flushing It last year. “How do you get big access and ranking points. At LIV, nothing changes, it’s just money. It doesn’t matter if you finish 30th or first, it’s just money. I’m not a guy who wants more money. What’s going to 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 degrees. But it didn’t happen. I believed them. I was the first young person, then others came after I made the decision. But OWGR and degrees still haven’t happened.”
LIV Golf began receiving OWGR points earlier this year, and the USGA and R&A both created minor exemptions for LIV players for the US Open and Open Championships. However, the rebel league faces an uncertain future after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced that it will withdraw the funds from the league after the 2026 season.
After leaving LIV, Chacarra won several DP World Tour starts through sponsor exemptions and then won in India to secure his playing privileges on the European circuit. Now, he’s looking to parlay a summer of good golf in Europe onto a PGA Tour card, something more valuable — at this stage of his pro golf career — than a chance to take the field at Shinnecock.
Chandler Phillips and Henrik Norlander landed the top two alternates in Dallas, while Peter Uihlein, who plays for Bubba Watson’s Range Goats GC, was the medalist.
