Ex-LIV pro gets exemption from PGA Tour as tour swirl continues
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced that Eugenio Chacarra has received an exemption from the Puerto Rico Open, another event that coincides with next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
That’s big news for the 25-year-old Spaniard, who will be one of the first LIV players to line up for the tour. And it’s the latest in a subtle swirl of pro golf as the battle for golf dominance continues — and as the returning fairways from LIV continue to open up.
Chacarra spoke to a group of media Tuesday morning on the phone announcing the move. Although he did not hide where his LIV experience led to – his “only money” interview last month turned heads – on Tuesday he expressed his gratitude for his time at LIV, calling it “a great opportunity for me, my family and my future family” while insisting that this brings him closer to his childhood dream.
“Yes, obviously I’m very grateful for the opportunity. My goal since I was young 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 take the tour title again next week.
“The next step in my career is hopefully to make it on the PGA Tour and win on the PGA Tour,” he said.
Chacarra’s LIV tenure ended after the 2024 season, when he finished in the league’s “open space” and was not re-signed by Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC. It’s unclear what his options are for LIV in free agency, but the former Oklahoma State Cowboy welcomed the opportunity to start over.
“I’ve lost a lot of weight. I make my team work hard. I wake up every day motivated to be better and have goals to achieve, my mindset has completely changed,” he said. “Like I said, I think I was losing a little bit of motivation to get better there at LIV last year when I was there, so it was time for me to move on and start a new direction in my professional career.
“Obviously LIV wasn’t around when I was young, 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 and my desire was, so we thought it was best for me to move on and try to get on the PGA Tour.
Chacarra won last year’s Hero Indian Open, a victory that qualified him for every major event on the DP World Tour. He finished T4 at the Volvo China Open the following week and took top ten finishes at the Italian Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship. While he has played on 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 at a non-sanctioned event (sorry, that’s a mouthful). He is currently number 27 in the DPWT Race to Dubai; getting one of the 10 PGA Tour cards is one of his goals.
“If I continue to play well I have a chance to get my PGA Tour card with that,” he said.
He also echoed the words of another recent LIV defector:
“I agree with Patrick Reed. The enthusiasm to play Friday to reduce or enter Sunday has a chance to win.”
Chacarra lives in Tulsa, Okla., where he is a member of the Southern Hills major tournament host club. He wasn’t the only former Cowboy to stay in the kingdom; he said he regularly sees Bo Van Pelt, cited Viktor Hovland and Austin Eckroat as pros where they live and added that he still visits Karsten Creek, Oklahoma State’s home course.
Chacarra added that while his ultimate goal is the PGA Tour, playing the DP World Tour has given him a greater appreciation for the professional game and that he hopes to continue competing there.
“Obviously it gave me more, like what real golf is. Cutting, grinding, having different periods of time. 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 so I can be one of the best and get on the PGA Tour as soon as possible.”
Chacarra’s announcement comes amid a flurry of LIV-, DPWT- and PGA Tour-related news.
At the end of 2025, Laurie Canter received a PGA Tour card through the DP World Tour but turned it down in favor of the LIV deal.
Brooks Koepka is already back on the PGA Tour and headlines this week’s Cognizant Classic in Florida, his third event since being accepted into the new returning members program.
Patrick Reed led a group of former LIV pros who will be eligible for the tour again next year, a group that includes Pat Perez, Hudson Swafford and (though his timeline is unclear) Kevin Na.
Just last week the DP World Tour reached an agreement with a group of eight LIV players who will play on both tours without penalty as long as they hit certain benchmarks – although Jon Rahm, notably, was not among them.
What about Chacarra? He follows in the footsteps of James Piot, who last summer became the first LIV player to receive a sponsor’s invitation to a PGA Tour event at the Rocket Classic.
You know that the church can lead to nothing – or everything.
“Like I said to my team, I mean, this is like important to me. So it’s going to be fun and I’m going to try to do my best.”
“>
