Rising star Mito Pereira’s PGA Tour goals after three-win promotion? Keep his card, go to East Lake, ‘why not get a win’

JACKSON, Miss. — If you’re looking for an up-and-coming player to root for on the PGA Tour, you may want to get familiar with Mito Pereira.

The 26-year-old from Chile is playing his first full season on Tour this year, and the early results are pointing to yet another under-30 star in the making. Pereira became the 12th player on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn a three-win automatic promotion to the PGA Tour back in June, and after some struggles out the gate has found some impressive form.

Pereira made four consecutive cuts between July and September, including a T-5 at the Barbasol Championship and T-6 at the 3M Open. The Texas Tech grad also nearly medaled at the Olympics in Japan, finishing T-4 alongside Collin Morikawa, Sebastian Munoz, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey and Hideki Matsuyama. How’s that for company?

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“Oh, the Olympics was so much fun,” Pereira said two weeks ago during the Fortinet Championship, where he finished solo third in the Tour’s first event of the season. “You play for something bigger, my country. Not everybody knows what the PGA Tour is, but everybody in Chile at least knows what the Olympics are. I got so many texts and people who didn’t even play golf just saying like, ‘Hey, I’m going to support you, I’m from Chile,’ so it was such a good experience.”

His positive results over the summer have given Pereira a strong self confidence as he continues his journey through professional golf, but he’s not letting the big moments get to him. As for goals?

“I’m more of a guy to go like week-to-week, but, yeah, of course we got like keep your PGA Tour card or get to East Lake will be a really big deal for me for the end of the season. Why not get a win?” he said with a laugh.