‘I Trusted Them’: Eugenio Chacarra Airs His LIV Golf Grievances

On Friday, Flushing It Golf talked with Eugenio Chacarra about his experience with LIV Golf. I recommend reading the comments in full but here are a few highlights:

1. After three seasons playing on LIV, Chacarra’s motivation is to “grind and get better, and to say I can be a PGA Tour player one day.”

2. Chacarra spoke about the implications of winning on the PGA Tour compared to the stakes on LIV. “I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how your life changes. How you get major access and ranking points. On LIV, nothing changes, there is only money. It doesn’t matter if you finish thirtieth or first, only money.”

3. He also expressed disappointment that LIV indicated players would have access to majors, which never materialized. “When I joined LIV they promised OWGR and majors. But it didn’t happen. I trusted them.”

Several factors come into play when considering Chacarra’s comments. First, Chacarra hasn’t accomplished very much as a professional, which is how he found himself in LIV Golf’s Open Zone, meaning he wasn’t guaranteed another contract for 2025. He won a LIV event in October of 2022 and an Asian Tour event in August of 2023, neither of which put the world on notice. His lone major championship appearance was at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where he missed the cut by three shots. If Chacarra had played better over the last couple of years – whether on LIV or on other tours – he could’ve qualified or earned invitations to other majors like Joaquin Niemann.

Chacarra’s comments also underscore the emptiness of LIV’s promise to become accredited by the OWGR and ensure access to major championships for its players. Sure, you can argue that the OWGR blackballed LIV, but LIV didn’t exactly make an earnest effort to comply with the OWGR criteria for accreditation before ultimately withdrawing their application. They’d also openly expressed hostility toward the governing bodies, who hold the keys to OWGR accreditation, which is an odd tactic while your application is pending.

LIV’s priority when pitching young professional golfers on joining the league was the best interests of LIV, not the best interests of the golfer. The pitch was geared towards filling out their roster and getting the product off the ground. Young players like Chacarra, who bought into LIV’s messaging and signed contracts, have become collateral damage in LIV’s quest for legitimacy. Still, it’s hard to feel too bad for someone in Chacarra’s shoes – after all, that’s what the money was for.

Lastly, Chacarra hopes to make a run at a career on the PGA Tour once his one-year suspension expires, a suspension incurred for competing on LIV. Um, how do suspensions still make any sense? Why are players suspended from the PGA Tour for a year after playing LIV events, especially now that the PGA Tour and LIV have entered into a Framework Agreement? I thought we were friends!

Seriously, though, how do you justify a suspension after a LIV player’s contract has expired? From the PGA Tour’s perspective, shouldn’t you want talent to return to the Tour if the player goes through the appropriate pathway and is good enough to gain status? The obvious answer is yes. However, many PGA Tour players are more concerned with protecting their own hides than common sense, an unfortunate and recurring reality.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.