Mito

Pereira

The Chilean may have made the leap to LIV Golf but that hasn’t slowed his pace. He’s played six worldwide events since making the jump and bagged finishes of 11th or better in five of them with a 16th-place finish in the other. While it will be his first time playing the big event, he did get some practice reps, “Actually I came here three weeks ago, so this was not the first time in Augusta, but obviously it’s special to be here Masters week, and the course is looking great and tough as always...I’ve seen it on TV so many times, and you can’t really ask for more being here and playing the Masters this year.”

Pereira had been on a good run of form, finishing T-4 last week in Las Vegas before a solid opener (67) in Japan. But the train fell off the tracks Friday at Narashino CC, where the Chilean struggled to a 6-over 77 that was two shots worse than any other player in the 78-man field. Pereira bogeyed his first hole of the day (No. 10) but his round didn’t unravel until a three-hole stretch from Nos. 15-17 that he played in 5 over, carding back-to-back doubles on Nos. 16 and 17. His lone birdie of the day came on his 15th hole, but by then the damage was done on a day when only three players shot higher than 73. After starting the second round inside the top 10, Pereira is now alone in 68th position at 4 over and 14 shots off the lead.

The Chilean entered off a successful week in Las Vegas, one where he held the 36-hole lead and eventually finished T-4, and he kept it going Thursday with a 3-under 67 to open the Zozo Championship. That score left him three shots behind overnight leader Brendan Steele and low score among the International Presidents Cuppers, with other scores ranging from Christiaan Bezuidenhout (68, T-11) to Corey Conners (73, T-61). Pereira made the most of the middle of his round, with four birdies in a five-hole stretch from Nos. 8-12, and he gave some of the post-round credit to a Japanese barbecue meal served to the Presidents Cup contingent by Hideki Matsuyama. Pereira is in search of his first back-to-back top-10 finishes since May, when he followed a T-3 finish at the PGA with a T-7 showing the next week at Colonial.

The Texas Tech product led by himself at the midpoint this week but “faded” with weekend rounds of 67-67. Pereira ended the week ranked 2nd in strokes gained tee-to-green despite losing strokes off-the-tee. He was that dialed in with his irons (+9.09). He missed just 10 greens in regulation all week at TPC Summerlin. This will go in the books as his third-best finish on the PGA TOUR and he’s been T2 or better thru 36 holes in all three of those big finishes. That’s also the only three times he’s been inside of the top seven at the midpoint which gives him a pretty strong record of staying in the hunt when he races out early, something for gamers and bettors to consider for future events.

Pereira began the day with a one-shot lead, his first overnight advantage since heading into the final round of the PGA Championship with a three-shot cushion. He put together a solid round, a bogey-free 67 that included 17 of 18 greens in regulation, but it came on a day when Patrick Cantlay (60) and Tom Kim (62) essentially lapped him. Pereira is now three shots adrift, as the Chilean sits at 16 under in a tie for third with Cantlay and Kim now out in front. He’ll look to channel the form of his second-round 63 to catch a pair of players he was alongside last month at the Presidents Cup as Pereira remains in search of his maiden victory on the PGA Tour.

Pereira and his closest pursuer, Robby Shelton, tied for the low round of the day with an 8-under 63 on the par-71 track. The Chilean posted his number first, breaking out of a start of three pars with birdies on eight of his next 12 holes. He got back his lone dropped shot on the day with a ninth and final birdie on No. 9, having hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. Pereira had one hand on the Wanamaker Trophy earlier this year before a 72nd-hole blunder, but he remains in search of his first PGA Tour victory. Pereira is making his first stroke-play start since closing out his ’21-'22 season with a T-54 finish at the BMW Championship, and he hasn’t cracked the top 10 since a T-7 finish at Colonial in May. His most recent action came at the Presidents Cup, where he went 0-2-1 at Quail Hollow for the International Team. This is his first career 36-hole lead, as his only other lead came after 54 holes at the PGA when he failed to close out a three-shot advantage.

The Chilean warmed up the putter early with a pair of birdie bombs from outside of 21 feet, at the 2nd and 3rd holes. He would add two more circles before the turn. His final score of ’66' was 4.55 shots better than the field average this morning and 78 percent of those strokes were gained on the outward nine. He arrived on the heels of back-to-back missed cuts but looks to be back on track this week as he makes his course debut at The Renaissance Club.

The World No. 49 bounces back from last week’s final-hole heartbreak at the 104th PGA with a top-10 finish, his third of the season in 20 events, second straight. For the festivities, he posted rounds of 70-66-68-71, one of two debutants (of 28) to record a top 10 this week, totaled one eagle and 13 birdies against 10 bogeys, and at last check, ranks No. 1 SG: Off-the-Tee (4.137), 18th SG: Approach (3.099), 26th SG: Around (1.933) and 51st SG: Putting (-0.715), lowlighted by a -1.774 SGP on Sunday. The Chilean is in the published field at the upcoming Memorial Tournament and will be vying for a third consecutive top-10 finish for the first time (in official events) in his short career.

The Chilean and PGA TOUR rookie was the 54-hole leader by three in his PGA Championship debut last week in Tulsa and still led by one thru 71 holes before suffering a double bogey-6 to miss a playoff by one shot. That was his first lead/co-lead after any round (in 86 rounds played) and it came in a major, so the closing 5-over 75, while understandable, was still a shock to the system for sure. To his credit, the Texas Tech product remained in the field this week in Fort Worth and has rebounded admirably with laps of 70-66-68, the 66 bogey-free on Friday, and posts 6-under 204. At the three-quarter mark, he’s tallied one eagle and 11 birdies against seven bogeys and is in positive territory in all strokes gained categories, including 2nd SG: Off-the-Tee (3.041) and 41st SG: Putting (1.078), highlighted by a 1.690 SGP today.

Twenty-seven players who were not otherwise exempt earned exemptions via their top-60 standing in the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 23. The 41-year-old Scott, who will compete in his 21st U.S. Open, won the 2013 Masters Tournament, and currently stands No. 42 in the rankings. Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship, is ranked No. 46 and will make his 10th start in the U.S. Open. Will Zalatoris, ranked No. 14, is the highest-ranked player in the current OWGR who was not previously exempt into the tournament. It will make the fourth U.S. Open for Zalatoris, who recently finished second in the PGA Championship after losing to Justin Thomas in a playoff. Mito Pereira moved up 51 spots to No. 49 after tying for third in the PGA and will compete in his second U.S. Open. Other notable players earning exemptions were Matthew Fitzpatrick, who’ll make his eighth U.S. Open start and won the U.S. Amateur in 2013 at The Country Club. No. 53 Brian Harman and No. 41 Tommy Fleetwood, who finished runner-up in 2017 and 2018 U.S. Open, respectively, also earned entry through the OWGR.