An insight into the man who came so close at the 2022 US PGA Championship.
Mito Pereira spent most of Sunday at the top of the US PGA Championship leaderboard before a closing double-bogey saw him narrowly miss out on a play-off.
Here are a few things to know about the 27-year-old from Chile, who finished in a tie for third.
- Guillermo "Mito" Pereira Hinke was born in Santiago, Chile on March 31 1995.
- His father played golf and Mito's earliest golfing memory is hitting balls with a plastic club as he started playing the game at the age of three.
- Was scouted to join the IMG Academy in Florida and achieved success as a teenager, finishing runner-up at The Junior Open in 2010.
- Despite that success, he quit the game at 15, only to return two years later and begin making a major impact in South America.
The rookie is rolling. Mito Pereira is making his presence known at Southern Hills. 👀#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/sDqlQRpeSr
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 21, 2022
- Aged just 17 and still an amateur, he won the Abierto Internacional de Las Brisas de Chicureo on his home Tour in 2013.
- Represented his country in the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy, an event which also featured Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau among a host of future DP World Tour stars.
- Attended Texas Tech University in 2014-2015 but played just one season of collegiate golf before turning professional after reaching Number Five in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
- Three more wins on his home Tour would follow before a breakthrough at the Roberto De Vicenzo Punta del Este Open Copa NEC on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2016, becoming the first Chilean to win on that circuit.
- Finished third on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2016, earning a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour.
- After two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, he spent the 2019 season back on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, finishing tenth on the Order of Merit.
- Missed the cut on his Major debut at the 2019 U.S. Open Championship after coming through qualifying in Florida.
- Won his first Korn Ferry Tour event at the 2020 Country Club de Bogota Championship before claiming back-to-back triumphs at the REX Hospital Open and BMW Charity Pro-Am the following year.
- Those three victories in the merged season due to the coronavirus pandemic earned him promotion to the PGA Tour.
- Represented Chile again at the Men's Olympic Golf Competition in 2021, missing out on a bronze medal in a seven-man play-off.
- He is a keen fisherman and motocross enthusiast, with Bubba Stewart his favourite sportsman outside of golf.
