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TULSA, Okla. — As Mito Pereira stood within the interview space in a tent at Southern Hills Nation Membership on Sunday, TVs to his left and proper confirmed Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris making ready for a playoff within the 104th PGA Championship.
After Pereira answered a few questions, somebody had sufficient sense to show the TVs off.
Lower than half an hour earlier, Pereira stood on the tee field of the 18th gap holding a 1-shot lead over Thomas and Zalatoris. Had Pereira carded a par on the ultimate gap, he would have grow to be the primary man from Chile to win a serious championship and the primary PGA Tour rookie to win one in 11 years.
As a substitute, Pereira pushed his tee shot right into a creek on the fitting aspect of the golf green. After taking a drop and a 1-shot penalty, he blasted his method shot over the inexperienced. He nonetheless had an opportunity to make the playoff if he might stand up and down. His chip shot rolled off the inexperienced. He wanted two putts from there and made a double-bogey 6. He completed tied for third at 4 below.
Pereira, 27, entered the ultimate spherical at 9 below and had a 3-shot lead. He shot 5-over 75 on Sunday.
“Clearly, unhappy to be right here and never within the playoff, not make par, simply straight win,” Pereira stated. “On 18, I wasn’t even fascinated about the water. I simply needed to place it in play, and I assume I aimed too far proper. I simply hit within the water.
“I imply, I want I might do it once more.”
In response to ESPN Stats & Info analysis, Pereira is the third participant over the previous 20 years to double-bogey the 72nd gap in a serious and end 1 shot out of a playoff. Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie each did it on the 72nd gap of the 2006 U.S. Open.
Pereira, who’s a hundredth within the Official World Golf Rating, stated he made the identical swing on No. 18 that he had the day earlier than, when he blasted his drive down the center. He was attempting to hit a low, onerous lower however did not comply with by like a conventional swing.
“I used to be feeling the identical,” Pereira stated. “I wasn’t like actually totally different. It was like that every one day. I imply, I believed I used to be nervous the primary day. Then I believed I used to be nervous the second day. Then I believed I used to be nervous on the third day. However the fourth day was horrible. I imply, [Sunday] morning was robust.”
Pereria barely missed a 12½-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventeenth gap that will have given him a 2-shot cushion.
Regardless of the crushing defeat, Pereira hopes his breakthrough efficiency in simply his second begin in a serious will propel him to massive issues sooner or later. He was consoled after the spherical by his household and fellow PGA Tour execs Abraham Ancer, Sebastian Munoz and Joaquin Niemann.
“It isn’t how I needed to finish up this week, however actually good end result,” Pereira stated. “Performed actually good. [Sunday], I used to be actually nervous. I attempted to deal with it a little bit bit, however it’s actually robust. I believed I used to be going to win on 18, however it’s what it’s. We’ll have one other one.”
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who performed with Pereira and shot 3-over 73 to complete tied for fifth, felt dangerous about the best way it ended.
“Mito is a stunning child, and we obtained speaking down the second, and he is only a very nice, down-to-earth child,” Fitzpatrick stated. “When that occurs, it’s robust to take. You hope it isn’t you, and it is robust to see. He finishes with a par and he is gained the U.S. PGA. You positively really feel for him, and I am positive he’ll have many possibilities once more.”
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