Eugenio López-Chacarra doesn’t yet have both feet in the PGA Championship, but almost… He has already planted one and three-quarters of the other at Quail Hollow, where the second Major of the year will be held in less than a month. He achieved this with his fourth place at the Volvo China Open. Thus, at least, the disappointment of not being able to win this Sunday is somewhat mitigated.
Chacarra is fighting for the PGA through the Asian Swing classification, the mini-tour of the DP World Tour that includes the tournaments in Singapore, India, and the two in China. The three players who accumulate the most points in the Race to Dubai solely in this four-week sequence will qualify for the major organised by the PGA of America.
With his victory in India and his fourth place this Sunday in Shanghai, Chacarra occupies the second place in this Asian Swing, only behind Keita Nakajima, with only one tournament left, the Hainan Classic taking place next week. His situation is very advantageous, to the point that there’s only one possible combination that would leave him out of the PGA.
The calculations are very simple. The first thing that must happen is for Eugenio to miss the cut in Hainan, which is not easy, the second is for Ashun Wu to finish fourth tied or better, which is also not a piece of cake, and the third is for one of these five players to win: Brandon Stone, Tapio Pulkkanen, Matthew Jordan, Haotong Li, or Joost Luiten, an even more complicated scenario.
If Chacarra prefers not to be dependent on what others do, he would resolve all his concerns by finishing in Hainan fourth tied with just one player or better. In that case, Luiten, the golfer closest to him who could mathematically overtake him with a win, would already be out of options. It would be settled.
As things stand, with the calculations laid out, the truth is that Chacarra has almost secured his presence in North Carolina. It would be the second major of his career, after the 2024 US Open, held at Pinehurst, also in North Carolina. There, he missed the cut. Chacarra would be the fourth Spaniard in the PGA, where David Puig, Jon Rahm, and Sergio García already have their places secured. We could still have another Spaniard, but for that, Jorge Campillo would need to win in Hainan to break into the world’s top 100.
Through the Asian Swing, Pablo Larrazábal, Nacho Elvira, Manu Elvira, Ángel Hidalgo, Jorge Campillo, Joel Moscatel, Iván Cantero, Alfredo García Heredia, or Rafa Cabrera Bello would also have chances, that is, all those playing in China next week. However, these are very remote chances that would only come through a victory by some of them and a series of very favourable results from all those ahead of them. It would be an extraordinary fluke. By the way, Albert Boneta and Santi Tarrio have entered through their category to play the Hainan Classic.
It’s quite striking the number of players who, having chances to get into the PGA Championship through the Asian Swing, have opted out of playing in China. These are the cases of Richard Mansell, winner in Singapore, Marcus Armitage, or Jens Dantorp, golfers who are not exactly regulars in the Majors. Jordan Smith will also not be in Hainan, but he is not vying for his presence in the PGA. With his second place this Sunday, he has secured a spot among the world’s top 100 and thus his ticket to Quail Hollow. Yannik Paul will also not be there, as he plays next week at the Zurich Classic alongside his brother Jeremy. It’s the same case for Ángel Ayora and Alex del Rey.
