On Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced that Eugenio Chacarra has earned an exemption into the Puerto Rico Open, the alternate event to next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
This is a big deal for the 25-year-old Spaniard, who will become one of the first ex-LIV players to make it to a tournament. It’s also the latest in a turbulent flurry of touring pros as the battle for pro golf dominance continues — and as the return paths from LIV continue to open.
Chacarra spoke to a group of media Tuesday morning on a call announcing the move. While he has been candid about where his LIV experience fell short – “there’s only money” interview Last month turned heads – on Tuesday he expressed his gratitude for his time at LIV, calling it an “incredible opportunity for me, my family and my future family”, while stressing that it brings him one step closer to his childhood dream.
“Yeah, definitely very grateful for the opportunity. My goal since I was little is to be on the PGA Tour,” he said.
Chacarra signed with LIV in 2022 as a promising young talent and won in the opening season. He also won on the Asian Tour in 2023 and won on the DP World Tour in 2025; now he hopes to claim another tour title next week.
“The next step in my career is to hopefully be on the PGA Tour and win on the PGA Tour,” he said.
Chacarra’s tenure at LIV ended after the 2024 season, when he ended up in the league’s “open zone” and was not re-signed by Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC. It’s unclear what his LIV options were in free agency, but the former Oklahoma State Cowboy embraced the opportunity for a fresh start.
“I’ve lost a lot of weight. I’ve made my team work hard. I wake up every day motivated to improve and having goals to achieve has completely changed my mindset,” he said. “As I’ve said, I think I was losing a bit of motivation to improve there at LIV the last year I was there, so it was time for me to move on and start a new path in my professional career.
“Obviously LIV didn’t exist when I was little, 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 what my heart was and my ambition was, so we thought it was best for me to go ahead and try to get on the PGA Tour.”
Chacarra won the Hero Indian Open last year, a win that won him over beds at every major DP World Tour event. He finished T4 at next week’s Volvo China Open and took top 10s at the Italian Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship. While he has played the PGA Tour in the form of the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open (as have several other LIV pros), this will mark his first start in a non-co-sanctioned event (sorry, that’s a mouthful). He is currently number 27 in the DPWT Dubai Race; winning one of that tournament’s 10 PGA Tour cards is one of his goals.
“If I keep playing well there, I also have a chance to get my PGA Tour card through that,” he said.
He also echoed the words of another recent LIV defector:
“I agree with Patrick Reed. Trying to play on a Friday to make a cut or come into Sunday with a chance to win.”
Chacarra lives in Tulsa, Okla., where he is a member of the premier Southern Hills championship site. He’s not the only former cowboy staying in the state; he said he sees Bo Van Pelt regularly, citing Viktor Hovland and Austin Eckroat as pros in residence, and adds that he still frequents Karsten Creek, Oklahoma State’s home course.
Chacarra added that while his goal is ultimately the PGA Tour, playing the DP World Tour has given him additional appreciation for the pro game and that he hopes to continue competing there.
“Obviously it gave me a little bit more of what is, like, real golf. Having a cut, having to grind, having different times. Just playing every week with a lot of players. It’s fun to see where my game is, where I need to improve, what areas I need to improve a little bit more to be able to be one of the best and get on the PGA Tour quickly.”
Chacarra’s announcement comes amid a flurry of LIV-, DPWT- and PGA Tour-related news.
In late 2025, Laurie Canter won a PGA Tour card through the DP World Tour but turned it down in favor of a LIV agreement.
Brooks Koepka already has returned on the PGA Tour and headlines this week’s Cognizant Classic in Florida, his third event since being readmitted through the new Returning Member Program.
Patrick Reed LED a group of former LIV pros who will regain tournament eligibility next year, a group that includes Pat Perez, Hudson Swafford and (though his timeline is less clear) Kevin Na.
Just last week the DP World Tour reach an agreement with a pool of eight LIV pros to play in both tournaments penalty-free, provided they hit certain benchmarks – though Jon Rahm, notably, was not among them.
What about Chacarra? He follows in the footsteps of James Piot, who last summer became LIV’s first former professional receive a sponsor invitation in a PGA Tour event at the Rocket Classic.
He knows that week can lead to nothing – or everything.
“Like I told my team, I mean, this is like a big one for me. So it’s going to be fun and I’m going to try to do the best I can.”
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