Eugenio Chacarra called Sunday’s win at the DP World Tour’s KLM Open “very unique” because he triumphed in front of his father. But Sunday’s emotional win in Amsterdam was also different because of what the former LIV Golf member had to navigate on his final hole en route to victory.
Chacarra arrived at the 72nd hole holding a one-shot lead over Oliver Lindell, who played in the group ahead. As the tournament reached its climax, protestors ran onto the course and into the pond that surrounded the 18th green, setting off flares and chanting as the players made their way to the green. Lindell hit his approach shot into the par-5 as the chaos was unfolding.
Lindell’s approach came up a tad short of the green, but he was still able to get up-and-down for birdie to tie the lead and put the pressure on Chacarra.
But Chacarra answered the bell. He striped his tee shot and then sent his approach to the back of the putting surface, which gave him an easy two-putt for a closing birdie and his second DP World Tour win.
“Shot of my career, maybe,” Chacarra said of his shot into the 18th green. “That was a little tweener, but with adrenaline, I’m going to try to hit this one hard. It flew 10-15 [yards] longer than we thought. So, proud to see the ball land on the green and then took a nice first putt to give me a putt that you always dream of, a putt that you can’t really miss to win a tournament.”
DP World Tour staffers lined the green to make sure the protestors couldn’t run onto the putting surface as the tournament finished. The reason for the protests was not immediately clear. Two years ago at the KLM Open, protestors from Extinction Rebellion delayed tee times for several hours.
After knocking in his short, closing birdie putt, Chacarra let out a primal scream, and then the emotions started to flow.
“[I was thinking about] all the people that have been with me through my career,” Chacarra said after the win, which moved him inside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
“It’s nice to win with my dad here. He’s given everything for me since I was little so it was something very unique and I think of him, for sure.”
With the win, Chacarra is projected to move to No. 6 in the season-long Race to Dubai standings. The top 10 players at the end of the year who are not already exempt on the PGA Tour will earn their cards for 2027.
Two weeks ago, Chacarra left a playoff at a U.S. Open qualifier in Dallas early before he had a chance to earn an alternate spot at Shinnecock Hills. Chacarra explained that he needed to catch a flight to get to Belgium to prepare for the DP World Tour’s Soudal Open. His main goal is to get to the PGA Tour and winning on the DP World Tour is the most direct route to that goal. He finished T22 that week and T12 the following week in Turkey.
On Sunday, the 26-year-old Chacarra battled tough scoring conditions and a protest-interrupted final hole to claim his second win on the European circuit and move closer to his dream of playing on the PGA Tour.
“This is a step a little closer to that,” Chacarra said after his win.
Once the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world, Chacarra joined LIV Golf in 2022. He spent three years on the rebel circuit before his contract was not renewed after the 2024 season. After leaving LIV, Chacarra noted that the Saudi-backed league was about “only money,” and that he wanted to chase his original golf dreams.
“I know this is what my heart tells me is right and it works for my motivation to wake up and grind and get better, and to say I can be a PGA Tour player one day,” Chacarra told Flushing It after leaving LIV. “So this decision is what’s best for me. I’m very thankful for what they’ve done, but my mind is different now and I want to get to what I was dreaming about when I was little. Because obviously LIV didn’t exist when I was growing up. I was watching Tiger Woods winning on the PGA Tour, and I want to do that.”
After coming out on top in Amsterdam, Eugenio Chacarra’s PGA Tour dreams are right in front of him. All that’s left is for him to finish the DP World Tour season strong and grab them.
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