Mito Pereira

Guillermo "Mito" Pereira Hinke (born 31 March 1995) is a Chilean professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League.[2]

Mito Pereira
Personal information
Full nameGuillermo Pereira Hinke
NicknameMito
Born (1995-03-31) 31 March 1995 (age 29)
Santiago, Chile
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight196 lb (89 kg; 14.0 st)
Sporting nationality Chile
ResidenceJupiter, Florida
Career
CollegeTexas Tech University
Turned professional2015
Current tour(s)LIV Golf
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Korn Ferry Tour
PGA Tour Latinoamérica
Professional wins10
Highest ranking41 (9 October 2022)[1]
(as of 7 July 2024)
Number of wins by tour
Korn Ferry Tour3
Other7
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT43: 2023
PGA ChampionshipT3: 2022
U.S. OpenCUT: 2019, 2022, 2023
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2022
Medal record
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place2019 LimaIndividual

Amateur career

Pereira was runner-up at the 2006 Optimist International Junior Golf Championship (boys 10-11 division), and won the 2008 Optimist International Junior Golf Championship (boys 12-13 division). He was runner-up at the 2010 Junior Open Championship at Lundin Golf Club in Fife, Scotland.[2]

In 2013, at the age of 17, he won the Chilean Professional Tour's Abierto Internacional de Las Brisas de Chicureo, shooting 70-70-70 to win by one stroke over professionals Nico Geyger and Cristián León.

Pereira attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock and played one year of college golf with the Red Raiders in 2014–15; he reached No. 5 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking in August 2015 before deciding to turn pro.[2]

Professional career

Pereira turned professional in the second half of 2015 and joined the 2016 PGA Tour Latinoamérica, where he won the Roberto De Vicenzo Punta del Este Open Copa NEC and managed to reach the top-spot of the Order of Merit, to become the youngest player ever ranked No. 1. In addition to his victory, he had two runner-up finishes and four further top-10s in 18 starts and ended the season ranked No. 3 on the Order of Merit, earning promotion to the 2017 Web.com Tour where his best finish was T3 at the Nashville Golf Open.[2]

At the 2019 U.S. Open, he qualified for his first major, but did not make the cut. At the 2019 Pan American Games, Pereira won the bronze medal in the men's individual competition.[3]

On the 2020–21 Korn Ferry Tour, he won the Country Club de Bogotá Championship in February 2020. With back to back victories at the Rex Hospital Open and BMW Charity Pro-Am in June 2021, he earned an instant promotion to the PGA Tour. He became just the 12th player in the developmental tour's 32-year history to earn the automatic three-win promotion, and the first since Wesley Bryan in 2016.[4] In August 2021, Pereira finished in a tie for 3rd place at the Olympic Games. He lost in a 7-man playoff for the bronze medal.[5]

At the 2022 PGA Championship, he entered the final round with a three-shot lead over Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick, at 9-under-par. However, he struggled throughout the day, and reached the par-4 18th hole at Southern Hills at 6-under, with a one stroke lead over Zalatoris and Justin Thomas. Having missed his birdie putt at 17 by mere inches, he was aggressive off the tee, ultimately finding the right hand side creek, leading to a double bogey. He ended up tied for third place, as Thomas defeated Zalatoris in a playoff. Pereira was the third player over the previous 20 years to double-bogey the 72nd hole in a major and finish one shot out of a playoff; Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie both did it at the 2006 U.S. Open.[6]

Pereira qualified for the International team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he played three matches, tying one and losing two.[7]

In February 2023, it was announced that Pereira joined LIV Golf and will participate as a team member of Torque GC, alongside team captain and fellow Chilean Joaquín Niemann.[8]

Personal life

Pereira appears in the sports documentary series Full Swing, which premiered on Netflix on February 15, 2023.[9]

Amateur wins

  • 2008 Optimist International Junior Golf Championship
  • 2013 Golden Cup, Abierto Las Brisas de Santo Domingo, Abierto Las Araucarias, Los Leones Amateur, Campeonato de Chile Match Play, Abierto Las Brisas De Chicureo
  • 2014 Abierto de Marbella, Abierto de Granadilla, Abierto Las Brisas de Santo Domingo, Abierto La Posada, Campeonato Internacional de Aficionados Copa Carlos Raffo, Los Leones Amateur, Campeonato de Aficionados de Chile - Match Play

Source:[2][10]

Professional wins (10)

Korn Ferry Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
19 Feb 2020Country Club de Bogotá Championship−20 (65-66-68-64=263)2 strokes Ben Kohles
26 Jun 2021Rex Hospital Open−21 (62-67-67-67=263)Playoff Stephan Jäger
313 Jun 2021BMW Charity Pro-Am−27 (65-63-66-64=258)4 strokes Justin Lower

Korn Ferry Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
12021Huntsville Championship Paul Barjon, Billy KennerlyBarjon won with eagle on third extra hole
22021Rex Hospital Open Stephan JägerWon with birdie on first extra hole

PGA Tour Latinoamérica wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
116 Oct 2016Roberto De Vicenzo Punta del Este Open Copa NEC−16 (64-67-70-63=264)5 strokes Tom Whitney

TPG Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
125 Nov 2018Andrés Romero Invitational−11 (71-66-68=205)2 strokes Paulo Pinto

Chilean Tour wins (5)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
128 Sep 2013Abierto Las Brisas de Chicureo
(as an amateur)
−6 (282)1 stroke Cristián León, Nicolás Geyger
213 Sep 2015Abierto de Marina Golf Rapel−9 (70-65=135)4 strokes Lucas Morandé
319 Dec 2015Abierto del Club de Polo−9 (70-68-69=207)4 strokes Juan Cerda
410 Jan 2016Abierto de Cachagua−12 (65-68-71=204)4 strokes Juan Cerda, Gabriel Morgan-Birke
527 Jan 2019Abierto Rocas de Santo Domingo−19 (67-64-67-71=269)3 strokes Mark Tullo

Playoff record

Other playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12019Pan American Games José Toledo, Fabrizio ZanottiZanotti won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament20192020202120222023
Masters TournamentT43
PGA ChampionshipT3T18
U.S. OpenCUTCUTCUT
The Open ChampionshipNTCUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament2022
The Players ChampionshipCUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut

Team appearances

Amateur

Source:[10]

Professional

See also

References