On a brutally difficult day at Gary Player’s DLF Golf & Country Club, Eugenio Chacarra, sporting his orange and black Oklahoma State colors, won the Hero Indian Open, earning a DP World Tour card in the process.
Chacarra’s story is a unique one that was filled with a tremendous amount of uncertainty just a few short months ago. In January 2025, LIV Golf showed the Spaniard the door after a promising start on LIV followed by a few seasons of up-and-down play.
Prior to his decision to join LIV, Chacarra was a standout at Oklahoma State. He was first-team All-American honors and a finalist for both the Ben Hogan Award and Haskins Award for the nation’s top collegiate golfer. Just before signing his controversial LIV Golf contract, he rose all the way to the No. 2 player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, one spot behind PGA Tour star, Ludvig Aberg.
Chacarra joined LIV in 2022, and flashed his enormous potential early, winning in Bangkok, while raking in millions in the process. Only to see it unravel.
He didn’t mince words about the controversial golf league after he parted ways with Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs team. “I see what it’s like to win on the PGA Tour and how your life changes,” he told Tom Hobbs, who runs the X account Flushing It, earlier this year. “How you get major access and ranking points. On LIV, nothing changes, there is only money. It doesn’t matter if you finish 30th or first, only money.”
Now, Chacarra is out to prove his former team and critics wrong and earn a PGA Tour card through the DP World Tour. His win at the Hero Indian Open didn’t just affirm his talent, it was a monumental step in realizing his dreams. With the win, he now has a DP World Tour card through 2027. With his talent and plenty of starts ahead of him, he now has a real shot at snagging one of the 10 PGA Tour cards the DP World Tour hands out to its top 10 Race to Dubai finishers at season’s end.
Back in January, he spoke about his PGA Tour ambitions in an interview with Sportskeeda. "I think that's what major golf is, (what) PGA Tour golf is. And that's what I wanted since I was little, to call myself a PGA Tour player. That's my goal. That's my dream and yeah like I said, I just need to keep working hard and hopefully one day that opportunity comes to me."
If Chacarra is able to have the season he envisions and earn his way onto the PGA Tour, he will become the first former full-time LIV golfer to get his PGA Tour card.
The overall Asian Swing champion, determined after four events (including the Hero Indian Open), receives a $200,000 bonus, entry to the Genesis Scottish Open, and access to the Back 9 section of the season, which offers increased Race to Dubai points. The top three in the Asian Swing also earn a spot in the PGA Championship.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Former LIV Player Wins Hero Indian Open, One Step Closer to Achieving PGA Tour Dream.
