Andy DevaneyEugenio Chacarra won the 2026 KLM Open by one stroke on Sunday, birdieing the 18th hole at The International in Amsterdam to hold off Oliver Lindell after a final round that had more loose ends than a caddie’s yardage book in a gale.
This was not a Sunday for decorative golf. It was a day for bracing yourself, picking sensible targets and accepting that the wind in Amsterdam had developed ideas above its station.
Chacarra, who had spoken after Saturday’s round about relishing tough conditions, was given precisely that: high winds, awkward pins and a chasing pack with just enough ambition to make life deeply uncomfortable.
He finished at ten under par, one clear of Lindell, and claimed his second DP World Tour title following last year’s Hero Indian Open.
Chacarra Finds The Answer When Lindell Asks The Question
For much of the afternoon, Chacarra appeared to have the tournament tucked under one arm. Then, as golf tends to do when it senses a man getting comfortable, it removed the cushion and replaced it with a drawing pin.
Lindell, excellent down the stretch, closed with a 69 and birdied three of his final four holes. His last-hole birdie took him to ten under, level with Chacarra, just as the Spaniard stood over his approach to the 18th.
The reply was magnificent. Chacarra found the back of the green, rolled his first putt down close, then waited while his playing partners completed their work. A few deep breaths later, he tapped in for the title.
It was clinical, but not cold. There was too much heart in it for that.
A Windy Sunday With Very Little Charity
The final round at The International offered little in the way of easy scoring. Marcel Siem’s 68 was the lowest round of the day, and only eight players managed to break 70. That tells you plenty. The course was not handing out biscuits. It was asking questions with a clipboard and a suspicious expression.
Overnight leaders Sebastian Söderberg and Chacarra both stumbled early. Söderberg dropped a shot at the first, Chacarra at the third, and suddenly Marcus Armitage and Maximilian Steinlechner had moved into a share of the lead with two birdies apiece.
Söderberg responded with a birdie at the fourth, but Chacarra made his move approaching the turn. Birdies at the eighth and ninth took him to 11 under and opened a three-shot lead as those around him began to fray.
For a while, it looked as though the Spaniard might not need fireworks. Just a sensible cardigan and a firm handshake.
The Back Nine Tightens Its Grip
The 12th brought a bogey for Chacarra and pulled the field back towards him. Lindell birdied the 14th to move within one, and Chacarra answered immediately with a birdie of his own.
Then the plot thickened. Lindell and Steinlechner both birdied the 15th, emerging as the most serious threats. Chacarra dropped a shot at the 16th, while Steinlechner bogeyed the par-three 17th. Lindell’s par left him one behind heading to the last.
Chacarra nearly settled matters at the 17th, coming desperately close to a birdie that would have been only the fifth of the day on that hole. He did not get it, and Lindell made sure the final act still had teeth, birdieing the 18th to draw level.
By then, the tournament had narrowed itself beautifully: one man in the clubhouse position, one man in the fairway, and a gusting wind loitering nearby like a heckler with tenure.
The Shot That Sealed It
Afterwards, Chacarra knew exactly how important the final approach had been.
Eugenio Chacarra: “Shot of my career, maybe! That was a little ‘tweener’ but with adrenaline I’m going to try to hit this one hard, it flew 10-15 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.
“(I was thinking about) all the people that have been with me through my career.
“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.
“Obviously it’s something we can’t control but the wind was there, it was changing and it was tough.
“The pins were really tough, I thought, today, tough to hit it close after a good shot and there was always something close to them so like I said, we had a good gameplan, tried to be in the safe spot.
“The only one I didn’t do very good was the 16th, I thinned it a little, I wanted to be five long and I mis-hit it and went to probably one of the worst spots, but I’m very proud of how I played the 17th and 18th holes, the hard work I’ve been doing, and it came through.”
Lindell Keeps Knocking
Lindell may have been left with second place, but this was another strong note in a remarkably consistent campaign. He has now made the cut in all 16 of his DP World Tour starts this season, and his finish in Amsterdam had the look of a player increasingly comfortable in unpleasant Sunday weather and unpleasant Sunday company.
His closing burst was full of nerve. Birdieing three of the last four holes is not easing into the clubhouse; it is kicking the door open and asking who ordered the chaos.
Angel Ayora added late drama of his own, eagling the last to join Steinlechner, Söderberg and Joe Dean in a tie for third at eight under. Julien Guerrier and Danny Willett finished one further back, with Yanhan Zhou at six under and Sami Välimäki at five under completing the top ten.
A Second DP World Tour Win With Substance
Chacarra’s victory at the KLM Open was not built on a procession. It was earned in buffeting wind, on difficult pins, against a leaderboard that kept finding new ways to breathe down his collar.
That matters. Winning when the course is generous is one thing. Winning when it is muttering darkly into your backswing is quite another.
At The International, Chacarra had the lead, lost some of its comfort, absorbed the pressure, and still produced the shot he needed when the tournament finally looked him in the eye. There are prettier ways to win golf tournaments, but few more satisfying.
Amsterdam blew hard. Chacarra held firm. And on the 18th green, with his father watching and the title waiting, he turned a difficult Sunday into the finest walk of the week.
