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Guillermo “Mito” Pereira Hinke, a former Texas Tech Red Raider golfer, is playing in the second major championship of his young career. His previous experience? He missed the cut at the 2019 U.S. Open. This time appears to be different.
While some of the world’s top-ranked golfers struggled to go low at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday, Pereira — the world’s 100th-ranked golfer — climbed the leaderboard.
Former Texas Tech golfer Mito Pereira
Former Texas Tech golfer Mito Pereira
Former Texas Tech golfer Mito Pereira
“I’ve been hitting the ball really well, so if I can just put one day of good putting, something like this comes up,” Pereira said in his post-round presser. “So just really happy how I ended up playing today.”
Pereira, 27, shot a 6-under-par 64 that included seven birdies and just one bogey to finish the second round alone in second place at 8-under for the championship. On Saturday he’ll play alongside the leader, Dallas native Will Zalatoris, who holds a one-shot lead at 9-under.
Why did Pereira have success on a day many other bigger names were faltering in high winds? John Gerber, a PGA of America member and host of From the Rough Podcast said, “Mito is leading the field in two key categories. Total birdies with 11, and greens in regulation, at 80 percent … these are categories that lead to success in major championships. His greens in regulation is five percent better than anyone else in the field.”
Former Texas Tech golfer Mito Pereira
Former Texas Tech golfer Mito Pereira
Former Texas Tech golfer Mito Pereira
Pereira is a native of Chile and played for one season at Texas Tech in 2014-2015. He was named to the All-Big 12 Championship team that same year. He reached No. 5 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking in August 2015 before deciding to turn pro.
He played his way to the Korn Ferry Tour and then won his way to the PGA Tour after having won an automatic three-win promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020-2021.
“It was a really good experience golf-wise,” he said of his time in Lubbock. “Golf program was really good. I think it helped me a little bit with my game, mostly strategy and just to have team events.”
Prior to this weekend, his most notable achievement was making the bronze-medal playoff at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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