When Eugenio Chacarra joined LIV Golf straight out of college, many questioned his move. He is again at the center of ridicule for giving up an opportunity to potentially tee off at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for the US Open 2026. As details from the chaotic qualifier surfaced, many asked whether the Spaniard misunderstood the situation.

The Spaniard scored 70 and 69 in his two rounds during the U.S. Open Final Qualifying: Texas held at Dallas Athletic Club. After this, there was one spot yet to be filled, and this led to a playoff among 6 professionals with a score of 3 under. Maybe Chacarra didn’t understand the importance of the alternate spots, so he walked away after playing one hole.

Apparently, Chacarra had to catch a flight to Belgium for the DPWT’s Soudal Open, which is scheduled from May 21 to 24 at Rinkven Golfclub. Here, Chacarra has a shot to earn the hefty winner’s share from $2,750,000. Anyways, at the end, in Texas, Chandler Phillips from Bryan, Texas, and Henrik Norlander from Sweden won the two alternate spots.

“Absolutely bizarre,” Monday Q. Info reported in an X post.

What surprised everyone was that this was a huge opportunity for him, considering his position right now. Chacarra had initially signed a 3-year contract, but he left the league at the end of 2024. Later, he shared that he did not like the league’s structure, and for him, there was no motivation there. Now, he wanted to accomplish his childhood dream of playing on the PGA Tour, but he knew the road wouldn’t be easy.

He started playing on the Asian Tour and is working his way up. He earned a sponsor exemption to compete in DPWT’s Hero Indian Open in 2025 and walked home a winner. This helped him earn the DP World Tour membership through 2027. Now, his rankings have also improved. Currently, he ranks 127 in the world, as opposed to being in the 400s at the end of 2024.

A chance to play the US Open should have been enough to motivate him. Even if he had barely made the cut, it would have helped his quest to propel himself into the top 100 and get a step closer to the PGA Tour. Chacarra has competed once in the US Open, back in 2023, and he missed the cut then.

The incident quickly triggered strong reactions online. Many fans were struggling to understand why the Spaniard walked away while alternate spots were still available.

Fans ridicule Eugenio Chacarra for his move

“Ceases to amaze me how these guys don’t bother knowing the rules of competition,” wrote one person.

They were pointing toward the importance of alternate positions in U.S. Open qualifying. Alternates regularly gain entry into the field if withdrawals occur. Therefore, the remaining players continued competing even after Caleb Surratt secured the final direct qualifying spot.

Many such incidents show the importance of being the first couple of alternates. Because of some late field changes in 2025, 5 alternates, including Takumi Kanaya, Doug Ghim, Chase Johnson, Eric Cole, and Riki Kawamoto, were given a chance to play in the US Open 2025. Besides that, Matthew Jordan got into the U.S. Open as an alternate when Sahith Theegala withdrew with a neck injury.

Echoing similar sentiments, another user said, “Yeah, the alternate spot always feels like a consolation prize until you find out how they actually fill the gd field!”

While these fans were more focused on the importance of alternate spots, some pointed fingers at Eugenio Chacarra. One person wrote, “It was weird. He just walked off,” while another said, “Guy sucks.”

Chacarra’s LIV results were modest overall. He only had two top-10s in 27 starts and finished 28th and 32nd in the individual standings across 2023 and 2024. But since he joined the DP World Tour after that, there has been some improvement. For instance, he won the Hero Indian Open in 2025. Even this year, he finished runner-up at the same event.

Another user simply criticized him. “Him quitting on something is on brand,” he wrote.

The overall sentiment was that many viewers were confused by Eugenio Chacarra’s decision to leave early.