Eugenio Chacarra will play next week on the PGA Tour. The Madrid native will compete in the Puerto Rico Open thanks to a sponsor’s invitation, becoming the second former LIV Golf player, after James Piot, to receive an invitation to a tournament on the North American circuit. A few weeks ago, he announced that he was temporarily withdrawing from competition for mental health reasons, and it is now known that he will return to compete on 5 March.
The 25-year-old from Madrid, who played at Oklahoma State, joined LIV after finishing university in 2022, but his contract with Fireballs GC was not renewed after the 2024 season. Chacarra then went on to compete on the DP World Tour.
The invitation to Chacarra comes after Englishman Laurie Canter became the first player last year to qualify for and compete in a PGA Tour tournament after his stint in LIV, at The Players Championship. Canter secured his PGA Tour card for this season through the Race to Dubai, although he decided to return to LIV this year.
Chacarra has already served the one-year suspension imposed by the PGA Tour, which ended last September. However, it should be noted that he had already competed in a co-sanctioned tournament by the US circuit, at the Genesis Scottish Open. It will not be his first regular tournament on the PGA Tour, as he already played four tournaments as an amateur, including the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2021, where he finished tied for 45th, his best result on the circuit. It will therefore be his fifth appearance, the first as a professional.
Chacarra has been away from competition for a mental health-related break. After missing two cuts in his last three tournaments, he withdrew two weeks ago from the Magical Kenya Open. During this time, the golfer has spent the past few weeks at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he has been training. Since leaving LIV, he has acknowledged that his main goal is to reach the PGA Tour. This week, he could make a big impact with a win that would change his life, or at least a top ten finish would open the doors to another event.
