Eugenio Chacarra admits he joined LIV Golf for the money and now wants back on the PGA Tour
Photo by Jasper Wax/Getty ImagesLIV Golf has been at the forefront of golf news over the past few months, mostly for all the wrong reasons.Since Saudi Arabias PIF announced they would no longer be funding LIV Golf from the end of the 2026 season, speculation has been rife that many of their top players could return to the PGA Tour.Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed actually jumped ship months before that announcement.Meanwhile, others left LIV Golf even earlier than that in search of more competitive action and, of course, world ranking points.Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesOne player in particular left LIV Golf two years ago, and he has been on a real upward trajectory ever since.A return to the PGA Tour is now on the cards for him too.Eugenio Chacarra admits he joined the league for moneyEugenio Chacarra has produced some exceptional golf over the past 18 months.The 26-year-old from Spain won once on LIV back in 2022, but he left the league at the end of the 2024 season.He earned full DP World Tour status after winning the Hero Indian Open in March 2025.Since then, Chacarra has won two more times on the DP World Tour and he is set to gain full PGA Tour status for the first time in his career, qualifying through the PGA TOUR Eligibility standings.While speaking on the Sliced Golf Podcast, the Spaniard admitted that he initially joined LIV Golf for the money.When I was number one on the PGA Tour University, the number one didnt really go to the PGA Tour. I was lucky enough, the year before Austin Eckroat finished third in the ranking, and he only got a couple of tournaments, Chacarra said.If you dont start playing well, you have no status or anything. So as a European they offer you the money they did, and they changed my life. It was something I really needed to take.I sat down with the coaches and they told me that they are saving up for life and your family right now. This is something that you need to take, you need to go and learn from Sergio, that is one of the best Spanish players in the world. I was lucky enough to play there individually, I won five or six times as a team. I learned a lot from the best players in the world too, but my time was done.I knew when I went there I went to learn from the best players in the world, to play a lot of golf courses and to get better but mainly it was because of the money.Photo by Jasper Wax/Getty ImagesI am very grateful for everything they did for me. For a 26-year-old to own all I own, to have life secured, to have a team and eight people working for me to make me better and not have to worry about if I miss a cut to have expenses. All that stuff takes a lot of pressure away from me when Im out there playing.I would not change my decision. My three years at LIV were important. It changed my life in a lot of ways, I learnt a lot and I am grateful for the opportunity they gave me. I guess I played great at the right time when they needed players and they were paying players a lot of money. I dont regret my decision and I think everything happens for a reason.Eugenio Chacarra says he can be one of the PGA Tours best playersChacarra explained how he is desperate to prove to everyone that he is, in fact, one of the very best golfers in the world.I got a lot of criticism when I was number 200 in the world and player of the year. I was going to be number one from PGA Tour University and I went to LIV, he said.Then when I decided to not continue on LIV people were saying that I did not have a chance, I could have gone to the Q School, I just thought talking with me and my team, I was not motivated and it was not where I wanted to be.I saw other players playing on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour with wins that their life kind of changes. I won in Italy and I played the Open Championship. That is a dream that we both have of playing and playing major golf.I thought it was time for me to leave and a lot of people said I was done, that I was not going to get that. That I was great in college but I was not good any more, I could not compete on LIV, even though I won individually.That gave me more motivation to work hard and prove them wrong. Now I am probably one of the best players on the DP World Tour and hopefully I can be one of the best players in the world and the PGA Tour in the next couple of years.