Mito Pereira signed off his first round in style at the inaugural St Andrews Bay Championship with a brilliant hole-out eagle for a six-under-par 66 and a share of the lead in the Asian Tour International Series event.

Spaniard David Puig — his Torque GC team-mate on the LIV Golf League — Indians Anirban Lahiri (another LIV-er) and Veer Ahlawat, South African Jaco Ahlers, and Andrew Dodt from Australia, shot the same number at Fairmont St Andrews .

Chilean Pereira’s fine finish made his 66 just that bit more special but he also started his round impressively making five birdies in the first six holes, on a sunny day when the wind was relatively subdued.

“Nice to finish with the three,” he said. “It all depends on the wind here, you never know, some days are pretty calm, and then you get 30 mile-an-hour winds. Today it was not that windy, at some point it started to blow a lot, I would say it’s the average low wind here. I hope it stays this way.

“This week is the same as all the events, hit well off the tee, be in position and try and make some putts. Today the driver worked pretty well, maybe one bad one.”

This week marks only his third appearance on the Asian Tour as he made his debut on the Tour at the Saudi International in February, where he tied for sixth, and a week later he made his maiden International Series appearance in Oman, finishing joint 11th.

The 28-year-old has forged a winning partnership with compatriot Joaquin Niemann, Colombian Sebastian Munoz and Puig on the LIV Golf League this season — winning four team titles with Torque.

Puig finished joint fourth in the International Series England last week and was on point again in Scotland, impressively making 10 birdies.

“Pretty crazy to make 10 birdies, I have had 10 birdies in a practice round, but I don’t think in a tournament,” said the 21-year-old, who made a double on the par-three 17 and two bogeys.

“I hit an eight iron on 17 but for sure it was a nine. We never saw it bounce and it disappeared, so we went back to the tee but besides that I played very solidly and finished very strong.

“Today was fair, it wasn’t that windy. I think I have some advantage as I think I hit it pretty far, so the holes into the wind I can get to the green easily and the ones that are down wind I can hit it pretty close to the green, like on nine.”

Last year Puig quickly underlined his credentials as one of golf’s most exciting young prospects. Just two months after turning professional in September, he made his Asian Tour debut at the International Series Morocco and claimed third.

“Obviously I am here to win, I am not here to finish third or fourth,” said the Spaniard. “I am still pretty young. I know I have the game to be up there and win. It will take some time and maybe I wasn’t ready last week, but I am ready for this one. I am looking forward to playing this week and giving myself another chance.”

Lahiri, who was third last week and second in the previous International Series event he played in, in Vietnam, was another to enjoy the mild conditions, although he does not fear the potential for windy weather.

“There are some demanding tee shots, but you just have to grind it out and there are some opportunities that you can take advantage of and makes some birdies,” said the Asian Tour’s number one player in 2015.

“I am really happy we got such nice weather, I wasn’t expecting it. I have played a lot of golf in windy conditions, I played in Europe as well, in fact I actually love playing in wind and especially when the conditions get tough. I like it when you have to grind it out.”

Koreans Seungtaek Lee and Micah Lauren Shin, Ian Snyman from South African, India’s Viraj Madappa, American Dru Love IV — the son of legend Davis Love III — Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan, and England’s Matt Killen all came in with 67s.

As did David Rudd, Scotland’s leading player after round one, who made it through the 18-holer qualifier on the Torrance course with the same score last week.

“Hit the ball okay, putted very nicely,” said the 23-year-old, who has been a professional for two years and competed on the Mena Tour this year.

“I missed quite a few greens, so up and down generally was really, really important. I only failed to get up and down once. And I slotted one 50-footer on the par-three fifth. I didn’t think that was going in, so I walked early.”

American Andy Ogletree, who won last week and is the runaway leader on the Asian Tour and International Series Orders of Merit, fired a 70.

England’s Paul Casey returned a 71, while Sergio Garcia from Spain uncharacteristically shot 77, having been three-under through seven, before a poor back nine saw him make a double and a triple.

The post Mighty Mito charges into share of lead at St Andrews Bay Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

He overcame both issues – and now he’s 18 holes away from his first LIV Golf title.

The Torque member from Chile shot a five-under 67 that included 10 birdies and five bogeys to take a one-stroke lead at nine-under going into Sunday’s final round at Trump National Washington, DC.

His closest pursuer is first-round leader Harold Varner III, whose even-par 72 left him at eight-under. Henrik Stenson and Kevin Na are another shot back in a bunched leaderboard in which 20 pursuers are within six shots of Pereira’s lead.

Pereira hopes to become Torque’s first individual winner while his team seeks its second team title of the 2023 LIV Golf League season, having won the third event in Orlando. Torque leads the team leaderboard by three shots over Varner’s RangeGoats and Stinger, the winners two weeks ago in Tulsa.

Pereira said both the individual and team leaderboards will be top of mind on Sunday.

“The team aspect, it’s really cool to watch it out there,” Pereira said. “It’s nice to have that in the background and just hope we can take the win again.”

Pereira also hopes that his allergy problems will not impact his performance like it threatened to do Saturday.

“It was really, really bad. I just tried to keep myself together and tried to play good and just take the allergy how it is,” Pereira said.

Varner, who opened with an eight-under 64 on Friday, hopes to rebound from a second round that wasn’t as productive as he’d hoped but still leaves him in contention. He’ll need his putter to cooperate better, as he took 31 putts on Saturday, seven more than he needed in the first round.

“I played poorly, but it is what it is,” Varner said. “It’s golf. I just didn’t have it but after yesterday, I’m still in position. Just got to get back on the horse and have fun with it.”

Pereira and Varner will be in the final group on Sunday for the first time as LIV Golf members. Stenson returns to the lead group in the final round for the first time since winning last year at Bedminster.

“We’re at the races,” Stenson said, “and we’ll try and finish strong tomorrow.”

The post Mito Pereira takes over at the top from Harold Varner III at LIV Golf DC appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As LIV Golf builds towards its 2023 season opener at Mayakoba in Mexico, they have begun big reveal of the 12 team line-ups — and they started with a whopper.

Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz and Chile’s Mito Pereira were unveiled as the league’s latest signings as they join fellow South American Joaquin Niemann’s Torque team alongside Spaniard David Puig.

The move strengthens LIV’s Latin links as Mexicans Carlos Ortiz and recent Saudi International champion Abraham Ancer are also on their books.

Three other team rosters were revealed on Wednesday, including an unchanged Majesticks side of Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield.

Champions 4 Aces have signed Peter Uihlein to join Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed and replace Talor Gooch.

Uihlein departs Brooks Koepka’s Smash, with Matthew Wolff joining Jason Kokrak and Chase Koepka in Brooks’ side.

The remaining eight rosters will be revealed this week.

LIV Golf League 2023 line-ups

Torque GC
Joaquin Niemann (c)
Sebastian Munoz
Mito Pereira
David Puig

4 Aces GC
Dustin Johnson (c)
Patrick Reed
Pat Perez
Peter Uihlein

Smash GC
Brooks Koepka
Chase Koepka
Jason Kokrak
Matthew Wolff

Majesticks GC
Ian Poulter (co-captain)
Henrik Stenson (co-captain)
Lee Westwood (co-captain)
Sam Horsfield

The post LIV Golf reveals Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz as new signings as team rosters get a shake-up appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The report is hardly a surprise. Pereira has been widely speculated as a potential mover to the circuit since late last summer, with numerous outlets citing the Chilean-born golfer’s interests around the Tour Championship. Pereira addressed these rumours by posting a photo of himself in the International Presidents Cup team uniform on his Instagram account and stated how honoured he was to play in the competition. Any member of LIV is not allowed to play in the PGA Tour-run match, indicating — at least for the immediate future — Pereira would remain with the tour.

RELATED: LIV Golf 2023 — what we know so far
Stenson set for first DP World Tour start since joining LIV

However, following the Cup — in which Pereira went 0-2-1 — the whispers picked back up of Pereira’s move to LIV, and Pereira was seen publicly with a number of the toour’s members in the autumn.

Pereira, 27, is currently No. 44 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He earned a promotion to the PGA Tour with three wins during the Korn Ferry Tour’s extended season in 2020-21. Pereira is most known for his 72nd hole collapse at the PGA Championship, where his one-shot lead vanished after a wayward drive found water. A closing double-bogey left Pereira a shot out of a playoff between Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris.

The signing bolsters LIV Golf’s Latin America contingent, joining the likes of Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz.

The LIV Golf season will begin on February 24 at Mayakoba, with both individual and team competitions similar to the inaugural season returning.

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We’d love to hand out actual turkeys to each and every one of our honourees, but have you seen how much turkeys cost these days? Instead, we’ll continue to simply name golf’s biggest turkeys of the year — especially because there were a LOT of them in 2022. Let’s get to it.

Mito Pereira

We’re going to try to keep these light for the most part, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the guy who let a major championship trophy slip through his hands as if it was covered in turkey grease. All Pereira had to do on the final hole at Southern Hills to NOT lose in regulation was to NOT hit his golf ball into that creek down the right side … and he hit it in the creek.
Justin Thomas should really send him a turkey with all the trimmings as a thank you.

Danny Willett

Winning is hard.

3 putts from 4 feet and Danny Willett loses by a stroke. pic.twitter.com/mfljIjUAOt

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 18, 2022

Similarly, Willett had an all-time crushing loss when he went from having a four-footer for birdie and an easy win at the Fortinet Championship to three-putting and losing.
The only good thing for Danny is that it was the Fortinet Championship and not the PGA Championship, so not as many people will remember him losing as they will Mito. It didn’t help that Max Homa chipped in before Danny’s disastrous three-putt, and to Danny’s credit, he handled the situation as well as could be expected. But still, you can’t lose that tournament.

Sergio Garcia

Official W/D reason given https://t.co/dK93E4cxuV pic.twitter.com/bgs1rO8JfD

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) September 10, 2022

Just like you can’t beg to play in the DP World Tour’s flagship event and then WD after you get off to a bad start and while the tournament, being held in England, has been delayed because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Making matters worse, Garcia then showed up in Austin, Texas, for a UT football game that Saturday while the event played on (something he was later fined for).
Bad look.

Timothy Kelly

Worst bogey I’ve made all season. Left my golf shirts hanging in my hotel room in Huntsville. Time to suffer the consequences and drive back to get them. Luckily only 1.5 hours away

— Tee-k Kelly (@teekkelly) May 2, 2022

OK, let’s get into the “forgetful tour pro” portion of the menu. First, we have Kelly, AKA Tee-K, who forgot his entire golf wardrobe in his hotel. Tough. But at least Turkey, we mean, Tee-K got them all back. After spending a good amount of gas money, that is.

Adam Schenk

Nice round for a guy that missed his flight on Monday morning because he forgot his golf clubs at home when we left for the airport.

— Kourtney Schenk (@Kourtney_Schenk) October 27, 2022

And then there’s this guy, who forgot his golf clubs at home when traveling to a tournament. Yep, his golf clubs. How is that possible?! Thanks to Adam’s wife, Kourtney, for always keeping him in check. We’d say tour pros are just like us, but I don’t know any golfer who would forget his clubs going on a golf trip.

Syed Zaki

This guy is definitely NOT a tour pro, but apparently he said he was before playing in a PGA Tour pre-qualifier, where he fired a 69. For nine(!) holes. As you can see, he did manage to birdie a 231-yard par 3. Impressive. Before making 17 on the following hole. Impressive for different reasons. Hopefully, Zaki will be better vetted before trying to “compete” in another qualifier. Our thoughts go out to his playing partners that day. And anyone playing behind his group.

Whoever set up this pin

Today at the Girls 3A State Golf Tournament at The River Valley Golf Course in Adel, the average score on hole 18 was a quadruple bogey.

No, the golfers weren't bad, but this had to have been the most unfair pin placement I've ever seen. This slope gave the athletes no chance. pic.twitter.com/F7OyqIjbkO

— Jake Brend (@JakeBrendTV) May 28, 2022

There were plenty of high numbers at the Iowa Girls 3A State Golf Tournament as well, but they were mostly due to one of the most devilish pin positions in history on the 18th hole of the River Valley Golf Course in Adel.

Matt Moroz

Basically, Moroz was DQd from Korn Ferry Q-School for cheating. Multiple times. Across multiple days. And in multiple ways. “Finding” golf balls that had no way of being found? Check. “Finding” golf balls at the bottom of the cup that never had a chance of going in? Check. Bottom line, if you ever find yourself playing with this guy for any type of stakes, you better keep an eye on him.

Tom Watson

#gokartrollover#leftshoulderreplacement#foryoungerguys Thank you to my doc Felix (Buddy) Savoie and his great team #nopain! pic.twitter.com/wNjjf3d3KZ

— Tom Watson (@TomWatsonPGA) November 19, 2022

We never thought we’d be writing about this eight-time major winner riding a go-kart. That being said, if you told us Watson was going to ride a go-kart, we wouldn’t have been surprised that he’d wind up getting hurt doing so. Tom, you’re 73! Your go-kart days are well behind you! We shouldn’t have to tell you that!

Bryson DeChambeau

Bryson just got DEMOLISHED by a rope. ? pic.twitter.com/x6e4b0ixah

— Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) September 18, 2022

Then again, you don’t have to be doing a dangerous activity to sustain an injury. You can be doing something like playing golf. Or, really, just walking. Such was the case with Bryson, who gave golf fans the biggest blooper of 2022 when he walked into a gallery rope at the LIV event outside of Chicago — and then acted like he’d been shot in the face:
Poor guy. At least, not too many people noticed. Kidding! Everyone in the world seemed to notice. Well, at least everyone on Golf Twitter.

Katie Sigmond

Speaking of viral moments, TikTok star Katie Sigmond treated her six million followers to a golf shot into the Grand Canyon. But after launching a golf ball — and part of her club — into this treasured landmark, she got slapped with three misdemeanours and a court appearance.
Apparently, the people at the United States National Parks System are as protective of their surroundings as the people at Augusta National.

Anyway, try not to do anything too dumb. We’ll be monitoring — for next year’s list.

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The post Bryson DeChambeau, Tom Watson and a law-breaking social-media star: Golf’s biggest turkeys from 2022 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Scottie Scheffler’s uncharacteristic missed cut a week ago in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, his favourite course, was just that — an uncharacteristic missed cut. No need to go back to the proverbial drawing board. No need to dig it out of the dirt (though that mantra seemed to work for Will Zalatoris after missing the cut at the Byron Nelson).

But you know what never hurts? A haircut, which is exactly what Scheffler got prior to this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge. Missed cut, fresh cut. It never fails.

It certainly did not fail the World No. 1 on Thursday at Colonial, where he shot an opening-round 66 to position himself inside the top five, where he’s been living all season. Take out the PGA and the weather-affected Players Championship, and you’ll see that Scheffler is on a historic tear, finishing T-25 or better in 11 of his last 14 starts, eight of those instances inside the top seven.

There’s no reason to not expect more of the same this week in Fort Worth, where Scheffler is playing his third pseudo-home game in his last five starts.

“I think I enjoy it,” Scheffler said of playing in his home state. “It’s a lot of fun, definitely, to have people cheering for you versus against you, so it’s definitely good to have some fans out here now. But I love being here at home.”

Scheffler was most proud of his round being bogey-free on Thursday, no easy task on a tight layout like Colonial, where the wind picked up as the day wore on. Bogeys were unavoidable last week, though he knows he still made a few too many.

“I was very frustrated obviously with how last week ended,” he said. “You never want to miss a cut. I hadn’t missed a cut in a while up to that point, so I think it makes it even more frustrating just knowing that I was playing really good golf and I just didn’t have it that week. That stuff happens. If I didn’t like bad draws or making crazy mistakes and stuff like that, I would have played a different sport. A lot of weird stuff happens in golf.”

Very weird stuff happens in golf, like the World No. 1 missing the cut at his favourite course, then getting a nice buzz at the barbershop and shooting 66 six days later.

Patrick Reed sums up golf

Patrick Reed. Ben Jared

Unlike Scheffler, Patrick Reed’s season has been anything but historic. It’s been downright ugly, very un-Patrick Reed like. The former Masters winner has become known for putting together some of the better and beefier campaigns in golf over the last handful of years, but in 2022 his best finish (non-Sentry TOC division) is a … wait for it … T-26?

Yes, T-26, which, believe it or not, came in that brutal Players Championship. Reed’s been bad, but the unable-to-put-four-rounds-together type bad. There are flashes, but they’ve been fleeting. On Thursday, we saw another flash, with Reed matching Scheffler’s 66, his only bogey coming on his final hole, the par-4 ninth. He’s hoping this flash is not one of those fleeting ones.

“It feels good to get a number out of it,” Reed said, adding, “Honestly I feel like there’s been too many days that I’ve done a lot of things really well, just the number hasn’t really reflected it.”

The good news is, there is plenty of season left, especially for Reed, who will play as many tournaments as it takes to play his way out of his funk. Though he doesn’t see it as that.

“If I just keep doing what we’re doing and stick to our game plan, the game is going to come around. Honestly, I feel like the game is where it needs to be, I just need the ball to go in the hole a little quicker.”

Don’t we all.

Justin Thomas, fellow PGA contenders have quiet Thursday

Justin Thomas. Tom Pennington

Through three holes Justin Thomas had picked up right where he left off Sunday, making birdie at Colonial’s par-4 12th, his third hole of the day. Boom. Never losing again.

Then … WHAM, double-bogey at the par-3 13th, where JT rinsed his tee shot and failed to get up and down from the drop zone. To his credit, he managed to play the rest of the day in even par, finishing with a one-over 71. Honestly, not all that bad considering the conditions in the opening round, and nothing he can quickly bounce back from. That said, would anyone blame him if he, um, took a dive on Friday?

Ditto that for Mito Pereira and Will Zalatoris, who, like Thomas, had quiet starts to their Charles Schwab Challenge. Pereira fought for an even-par 70, while Zalatoris stumbled to a two-over 72. Respect to all three of these PGA contenders for showing up this week. That in itself earns them a nice tip of the cap.

Jordan Spieth’s season (and career) summed up in 17 seconds

Golf ?

What a sequence from @JordanSpieth. pic.twitter.com/qogfogy1mL

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 26, 2022

The highest highs and the lowest lows. Just another ride on the Jordy express. All kidding aside though, these short putts are becoming obscene. He knows it. We know it. Do you realise he is 203rd on the PGA Tour in putts from three feet or less? And that he’s 186th in putts from five feet or less? The magic wand in his bag has become an agent of absolute chaos, and we can only hope it doesn’t fail him at an inopportune time (gulp … in a major). Then again, he’s already proven once this year he can still win a golf tournament despite missing a potentially tournament-altering lip-out. No one would be surprised if he did that again.

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The post Charles Schwab Challenge: New-look Scottie Scheffler bounces back, Patrick Reed sums up golf and Justin Thomas struggles appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
What might have been? That’s what Mito Pereira will be thinking for a while in the wake of the 104th PGA Championship. With 71 holes down, and one to play at Southern Hills, the 27-year-old from Chile needed a par on the home hole to close out a one-stroke win and become the first golfer from his homeland to win a major championship.

Instead, his drive found the creek right of the hole, and he could do no better than double bogey. Rather than of joining a list of rookies to win in their first PGA Championship appearance, he joins an ignominious group of golfers who have seen a major slip from their hands on the 72nd hole.

And, oh, what a group it is. Here are some of the most memorable 72nd-hole men’s major collapses:

Sam Snead, 1939 US Open
It was the one that got away for Snead after making a triple-bogey on the 18th hole at Philadelphia Country Club, falling two strokes back of a playoff between Byron Nelson, Craig Wood and Denny Shute. Snead never won a US Open, keeping him from being another member of the career Grand Slam club.

Ben Hogan, 1946 Masters
Herman Keiser’s three-putt on the 18th gave Hogan a birdie chance for the title. But then Hogan three-putted himself from from 12 feet for bogey that allowed Keiser to claim his lone major championship title. Hogan would get redemption with Masters wins in 1951 and 1953.

Gary Player. Bettman

Arnold Palmer, 1961 Masters
Palmer looked like he would be the first repeat winner at Augusta National, needing just a par on the 18th hole. After hitting the fairway, Palmer pushed his approach into a greenside bunker. He hit his third off the green, failed to get his fourth anywhere near the hole. An eventual double bogey allowed Gary Player to win and become the first international player to slip on a green jacket.

Doug Sanders, 1970 Open Championship
A short miss for par on the 18th at the Old Course cost Sanders the Claret Jug, dropping him into a playoff with Jack Nicklaus that he would lose the next day. Standing over the par putt, Sanders picked at a piece of brown grass, but then never restarted his putting routine, burning the right edge with his putt for victory.

Ed Sneed, 1979 Masters
Three shots in front with three holes left, Sneed proceeded to bogey 16, 17 and 18. It dropped him into a playoff with Fuzzy Zoeller and Tom Watson, the first of the sudden-death variety rather than a full 18 holes. Zoeller’s birdie on the second extra hole made him the second Masters rookie (and most recent) to win the green jacket.

Jean van de Velde. Getty Images

Jean Van de Velde, 1999 Open Championship
The Frenchman had a three-shot cushion stepping on to the 18th at Carnoustie, then proceeded to make all sorts of mistakes, starting with driver off the tee and then a third shot into the Barry Burn, en route to a triple-bogey 7. He could have made amends in a playoff, but eventually fell to Paul Lawrie.

Phil Mickelson.

Phil Mickelson, 2006 US Open
The most painful of Mickelson’s six runner-up finishes in the US Open came at Winged Foot, where Lefty needed a par to win, but hit a wayward drive, hit a tree with his second shot and tripped up with a double bogey to miss a playoff.

Tom Watson, 2009 Open Championship
A sixth Claret Jug and the honour of being the oldest winner of a major championship was there for the 59-year-old at Turnberry if he was able to make par on the 18th. But his approach just went long and he couldn’t get up-and-down from back of the green. He then fell to Stewart Cink in a four-hole aggregate playoff.

Dustin Johnson. Getty Images

Dustin Johnson, 2010 PGA Championship
DJ birdied the 16th and 17th at Whistling Straits for a one-shot lead, but pushed his drive on the 18th into a waste area. Surrounded by fans, he hit his approach to the green, and scrambled for bogey to seemingly get into a playoff with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson. But rules officials alerted him behind the 18th green he actually grounded his club in the sand, which was a breach of Rule 13.4 and added two more strokes to his score.

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The post The most infamous 72nd-hole collapses in men’s major championship history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

He looked upset as he climbed the long hill to the clubhouse, crossed the road, and climbed down the temporary stairs to the scoring tent, but he kept his composure, knowing the cameras were on him all the time. Journalists, TV crews, and security guards watched as he signed his scorecard, and watched the small television. Zalatoris sunk a birdie putt on 17 to tie Thomas at five-under, but more pressing, Mito Pereira hit a towering drive that faded perfectly toward the green at the par-4 17th. It didn’t quite reach the putting surface, but as Thomas watched, he seemed to have an excellent shot at a birdie that would likely clinch the tournament.

Justin Thomas. Christian Petersen

Mark Steinberg, Thomas’ agent, stood on the hill outside the scoring tent. “Bones,” he called, and Thomas’ caddie, Jim Mackay, walked over as Steinberg offered a series of whispered instructions. Stewart Cink, Thomas’ playing partner, came over to offer a fist bump, then patted his back.

At that point, Thomas walked out with his team, trailed by the cameras from PGA digital. “Hope for the best,” he said, to himself as much as everyone else. He went toward a building near the contestant interview area, another temporary structure called “Caddie + Player Support Services.” The cameras tried to follow, but Steinberg planted himself between them and the door, and whatever he said was effective — they remained outside, filming through the window.

Mike Thomas, Thomas’ father and swing coach, came to the door, received a set of instructions, and was back out in a flash, bounding up the stairs and back to the clubhouse. In the lobby of the player locker room, he found Thomas’ fiancee Jillian Wisniewski. Together, they headed back across the road, where a security guard in a cart shouted “cross your fingers, you never know!”

“Yeah, I agree,” Mike Thomas said.

They rejoined Thomas in the service building, but not for long. Mito Pereira’s birdie putt on 17 had stopped just shy of the hole, and at 5.34pm, he hit a horrific drive on the 18th that ended up in the creek on the right side of the fairway. The roar could be heard across the road, and almost the instant it happened, the doors to the support services building burst open. Thomas led the way, his face locked into intense focus, wiped totally clear of the disappointment that it had shown minutes earlier. He and his team marched out to a nearby golf cart. Bones sat up front, and Mike Thomas on the back. In the meantime, Colt Knost with CBS notified everyone that Will Zalatoris had saved a remarkable par to finish at five-under. Thomas now knew he wouldn’t win outright, but the chances of a two- or three-person playoff suddenly looked very good.

They were bound for the range. When journalists caught up to them, Thomas was hitting irons while his father stood behind him, surveying each shot with crossed arms. An Irish and Italian flag whipped to his right, cameras were everywhere, and Bones took his caddie gear off momentarily and looked like the announcer he had recently been. As the drone of the Goodyear blimp hummed above, and Thomas transitioned to his woods, Knost gave them updates on Pereira’s progress. Anthony Witrado of the PGA of America handed a cluster of journalists his phone, and on the screen, Pereira missed a bogey putt from off the green. The man who had led all day and looked like the certain victor after his drive on 17 was now fully out — the playoff would be Thomas and Zalatoris.

Some confusion ensued as the format was hashed out — three holes, cumulative, starting at 13, then 17, then 18 — and Thomas marched up the hill to the putting green. Zalatoris was already there — he opted only to putt — and in all the time they were in close proximity to each other, Thomas never looked at him once. Savvy fans had found the spot, clustered outside the gate, and began shouting their names as they struck their putts.

At 5.50pm, a PGA of America official appeared on the putting green.

“Hey guys!” he shouted.

He didn’t need to say anything more. They marched through the gate as the fans roared, and jumped into two separate carts with their teams. The cameras scrambled to keep up in their own carts; Thomas continued to resolutely avoid looking at Zalatoris.

At 5.52pm, 35 minutes after Thomas finished the 18th hole and cast a forlorn look at the scoreboard, the carts began to move. They soon disappeared around a corner, bound for the 13th tee and the playoff to decide the PGA Championship.

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The post PGA Championship 2022: Justin Thomas had 35 minutes between the end of his round and new life in a playoff. This is how he spent it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
With the PGA Championship over, the focus on majors turns to the US Open from June 16-19 at The Country Club outside of Boston, and the USGA was staging two qualifiers on Monday while also announcing an additional 30 players who have received full exemptions. Among them are two former major winners, Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley, and Sunday’s PGA runner-up, Will Zalatoris.

There were 27 players who were not otherwise qualified and earned exemptions through their place in the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday. Scott, the winner of the 2013 Masters, and Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship titlist, are ranked 42nd and 46th, respectively, in the world. Zalatoris now stands at No. 14.

The most dramatic move into the top 60 came from Chile’s Mito Pereira, who rose 51 spots to No. 49 by tying for third in the PGA.

The other players who earned full exemptions through the OWGR: Dubai’s Adri Arnaus, Richard Bland, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Talor Gooch, Brian Harman, Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Lucas Herbert, Tom Hoge, Kevin Kisner, Si Woo Kim, KH Lee, Min Woo Lee, Marc Leishman, Sebastian Munoz, Alex Noren, Thomas Pieters, Seamus Power, Sepp Straka, Cameron Tringale, Harold Varner III and Cameron Young.

There were three players who got exemptions based on their results on other pro tours. They are Joohyung Kim, the top finisher on the 2020-21 Asian Tour Final Order of Merit; Jed Morgan, the No. 1 player on the 2021-22 PGA Tour of Australasia; and Shaun Norris, the current leading player on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit.

There are officially 82 players in the field for the US Open, including the three who qualified in Japan on Monday. Japanese Tomoyasu shot nine-under for 36 holes to be the medallist, followed by countryman Daijri Izumida and Australian Todd Sinnott.

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The post Mito Pereira: How one PGA Championship contender made a huge jump to qualify for the US Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

One problem: No one told the putter it had to punch in for overtime.

Given invites to dance on the 13th and 17th greens during the three-hole playoff, Zalatoris’ flat stick kept him on the sidelines, and when he needed a miracle on the 18th the golf gods reminded him they fulfilled an earlier prayer request. Still, though Zalatoris left as the runner-up in his Tulsa tango with Justin Thomas, it is an experience the young Texan took in stride.

“I fought like crazy all day,” Zalatoris said. “Pretty proud of the result that I had.”

That he found himself in such a position was a testament in fortitude and grit. Playing in the penultimate group on Sunday with former Wake Forest teammate Cameron Young and starting three back of 54-hole leader Mito Pereira, Zalatoris came out looking very much like the super-kid who took the game by storm last season, his drives and his approaches listening to his every command. By the sixth hole the deficit to Pereira was erased. Even a sequence involving a launched tee shot and unplayable lie was salvaged by Zalatoris, who made one of those “good bogeys” usually said at the US Open.

Unfortunately for Zalatoris, over the next nine holes he looked like a passenger asked to fly a plane without help from the control tower. His drives became loose, his approaches not much better. Par saves didn’t come close to scaring the hole. The leaderboards told us he remained in the mix thanks to Pereira having his own struggles but it sure didn’t look or feel like Zalatoris was a viable threat, especially after he turned a 27-foot birdie try into a three-putt bogey at the 16th. Thing was, Pereira continued to keep the field in it, with Zalatoris’ birdie at drivable 17th making his 18th relevant. While his approach came up well short, his pitch from 30 yards left another eight feet. Behind, Pereira had melted, the Chilean’s drive finding the creek. Knowing a playoff was on the line, Zalatoris’ aim and stroke were true. The ball disappeared and the normally stoic Zalatoris clenched his teeth and turned his arm into a hammer.

“I knew I needed those putts,” Zalatoris said. “Those are putts that you keep in the memory bank for the future.”

Pereira’s double placed Zalatoris in a three-hole playoff against Thomas, starting at the par-5 13th. Zalatoris hit a mean draw off the tee. You don’t see that much anymore, the draw, not at this level. The fade is easier to control, hit no matter the hole shape, and thanks to modern technology not much distance is lost. The draw? It is not for the faint of heart. Too much wrong can happen. But when it works, brother, does it win the war against gravity. You have to be a ballstriker, and a bad man, to go with the draw. Zalatoris went with draw.

His approach from 220 yards finished 25 feet to the left of the pin. Thomas laid up, and though his third was just six feet short of the pin, Zalatoris could have knocked him into tomorrow. Instead he gunned the eagle by, tying Thomas after one. At the 17th, with Thomas two-putting for birdie, Zalatoris could not get up and down from off the green, missing a good look from seven feet. With both men finding the green at 18, Zalatoris went first from miles away. It was a good lag when he needed an indelible moment. Thomas made a good lag when he needed a lag. Thomas, the champ.

“Hey, I’ll play those holes at one-under any day of the week and JT happened to play in two,” Zalatoris said. “I hit a great putt on 17. We just under read it. Like I said, hats off to JT. He’s been due for a while to get another win, let alone a major. So, excited for him.”

Zalatoris should be excited too. He now has a five top-10s in his first eight major starts, a feat not accomplished since Ernie Els. “Yeah, I love it,” Zalatoris said of the pressure inherent to major stages. “If I didn’t like it, I would probably need to find a new career, right. It’s the same thing, when people say, man, what’s it like to play in front of the crowds and the joke I tell people is, don’t forget about the 10 million at home.” The next stops at Brookline for the U.S. Open and St. Andrews for the Open Championship should be conducive to his game. Hell, there are many venues that aren’t conducive to what Zalatoris can do, because he can do it all.

Well, almost all. For the week Zalatoris finished 10th in strokes gained/putting. That is the aberration in his nascent career. He entered the week 96th in SG/around-the-green and a whopping 185th in putting. If you’re looking for what was different, credit Southern Hills’ slow greens, which relied on slope rather than speed and thus allowed a more aggressive attack. For Zalatoris to get where he wants to go, the short game is an equation that needs an answer.

Conversely, he’s 25, with less than 50 official career starts, and in a game of cool customers he is conviction incarnate. His major record is that of a certified big-game hunter. All he lacks is the trophy to prove it. Should his putter cooperate, it will come, and come soon.

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The post PGA Championship 2022: Will Zalatoris’ putter sent him into a playoff but forgot to come along appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.