Golf: World No. 44 Mito Pereira to join LIV Golf, say reports

Currently No. 44 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Mito Pereira is considered a rising star. PHOTO: AFP

LONDON - Chile’s Mito Pereira is expected to join the LIV Golf League as part of the full 2023 player roster to be released next week, according to a report by The Telegraph.

Pereira, 27, would join good friend and countryman Joaquin Niemann on the breakaway tour.

Currently No. 44 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Pereira is considered a rising star, although he is best known for failing to hold a one-shot lead on the final hole of last year’s PGA Championship.

He also held the lead entering the weekend at the Shriners Children’s Open in October before ultimately settling for a fourth-place tie.

Pereira has teed it up only three times since, finishing runner-up in his most recent start at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on the Japan tour.

Pereira’s name was tied to LIV rumors around the Tour Championship last August, but he remained with the PGA Tour and competed for the International Team in the Presidents Cup.

In the time since going 0-2-1 in the team competition, Pereira has been seen publicly with several LIV players, according to Golf Digest.

He would join the league’s strong Latin American contingent, which also includes Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz.

“I would love to bring him, I’m doing everything possible, but in the end it’s his decision,” Niemann told Chilean newspaper La Tercera last month, per Golf Monthly.

“I imagine him playing the LIV. It would be ideal for him to be on the team, but that is not yet known. I hope it is. For me, at least, it would be ideal if he was on the team.”

The 2023 LIV Golf League season is slated to begin Feb. 24 at Mayakoba (Mexico), a former PGA Tour venue, with the full schedule expected to be released along with the player roster. REUTERS

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.