British Open 2026: On a path from LIV Golf to the PGA Tour, this Spaniard is working to control his temper along the way
David Cannon
SOUTHPORT, England — Eugenio Chacarra came in hot to his debut Open Championship. Three DP World Tour wins in the past 12 months—the Indian, Dutch and Italian national opens—have catapulted the Spaniard to third on the tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings. The only two people he’s behind: Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy.
And so far in his first appearance the game’s oldest championship, he’s settled in nicely. A par of even-par 70s has him easily advancing to the weekend, the first time he’s done that at a major in three career starts.
“It's been great; having three national opens is what you dream of when you're little and winning the and the Italian Open [last month] reaffirmed all the hard work that me and my team are putting in,” Chacarra told Golf Digest at Royal Birkdale. “We're working in the right direction and we're getting closer to our goal to get a PGA Tour card at the end of the season.”
The top 10 points earners with no PGA Tour status at the end of the DP World Tour season earn PGA Tour cards for 2027. That’s been Chacarra’s goal since leaving LIV and joining the DP World Tour to start 2026. The 26-year-old has 2,138 points. For comparison, the 10th finisher on last season’s Race to Dubai final standings earned 2,203 points. Chacarra trails Reed by less than 700 points, and a good finish at Birkdale will only help his cause.
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Indeed, Chacarra has moved the goalposts from simply getting a PGA Tour card to taking the No.1 spot. Last year, breakout star Marco Penge took top honors and earned full PGA Tour membership, which comes with an exemption to the Players Championship into select early-season Signature Events, such as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
“The Players is a tournament that we all dream of playing so hopefully I can [get to No.1],” he said. “There's a lot of good players coming along the ride trying to catch me and that's why we need to keep working hard. I already showed the world what I'm capable of, and I feel comfortable around the best players.
“The main goal when I left LIV was to be on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. That's where I dream of [playing] as a European. You grew up watching the DP World Tour on European Tour one trying to win out there.”
Chacarra reputation is as a fiery, passionate personality. In the likely event he is a PGA Tour member in 2027, he will have a larger platform to showcase his talent but additional pressure to compete on the deepest tour in golf. He’s working on finetuning his temperament so that it can be used to his advantage while not losing the energy it provides him.
“Everyone's different and I love the game of golf and I love to be charismatic, to show something to the public, to get hyped up when you can do something good,” Chacarra added. “Obviously, some things that I'm working on to not get as mad as I used to. I'm doing a great job with my team and my mental coach, and I think obviously the steadier you can be, the better. But everyone's different. You're going to have some different characters and I like my character. I like how I play the game of golf.”
At the Open, Chacarra was paired for the first two rounds with Max Greyserman and England’s Matt Wallace, the latter posting a second-round 67 to move into contention at four-under 136. A bogey on the last hole Friday from Chacarra kept him from being under par after 36 holes, but not outside of contention.
“Yeah, obviously it's hard, [it’s my] first open and I'm going to be nervous,” he said. “I've not had a lot experience with links golf and the course is playing tough, playing like a real links. So I have no expectations. I know my game's there. Hopefully a good start and I think that will help a lot to calm the nerves down and hopefully get a couple good rounds in. I know when I'm playing good and when I'm happy, if my putter is going well, I can compete with the best players in the world.”
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Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.
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