Eugenio Chacarra’s goal has always been to play on the PGA Tour.
“This is a step a little closer to that,” said Chacarra, who captured the DP World Tour’s KLM Open on Sunday in Amsterdam.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, who turned pro in 2022 and spent three seasons on LIV, back up his third-round 65 with a 1-under 70 to hold on for a one-shot win over Scotland’s Oliver Lindell. Chacarra’s second DPWT title, first since his maiden victory at last year’s Hero Indian Open, moved him to sixth in the Race to Dubai standings; the top 10 players without PGA Tour status earn their cards for next season on the U.S. circuit.
Chacarra couldn’t get much going on Sunday, though scoring conditions weren’t exactly generous as only one person shot 3 under or better (Marcel Siem). Chacarra bogeyed the first par-5, No. 3 at the International, then later bogeyed the par-4 16th to drop back to 10 under, which Lindell soon tied with a closing birdie.
Playing a group behind, Chacarra stepped on the 18th tee knowing that birdie or better would win him the tournament. He hit the fairway, then the green with a 210-yard second shot. A two-putt from 38 feet sent Chacarra into celebration; he pumped both fists before being soaked with two buddies spraying champagne.
Shot of my career, maybe,” Chacarra said of the approach. “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.”
Last month, Chacarra caught some criticism after leaving his U.S. Open final qualifier before he could compete in a playoff for an alternate spot. Chacarra later explained that he wanted to get back to Europe to play in the DPWT’s Soudal Open in Belgium. He finished T-22 there, then T-12 the next week in Austria.
Now, he’s just taken not a little step but a massive one.
