Mito Pereira

Early life and amateur career Pereira was born on 31 March 1995 in Santiago, Chile, to Sibylle Hinke and Guillermo Pereira. Pereira has German ancestry through his mother. In Spanish, Mito means "myth". Pereira's nickname is unrelated to this definition and instead is a derivation of "Guillermito", an affectionate name which his mother gave to him.

Pereira's father was a recreational golfer and introduced his son to the game. Pereira stated that he started with plastic clubs aged "two or three years old" and played in his first tournament at age six. He grew up near Joaquín Niemann and they began playing golf together as children. Niemann viewed Pereira, who was a few years older, as an inspiration. They both were coached by Eduardo Miquel, who had previously coached other golfers such as Benjamín Alvarado and Paz Echeverría.

Aged 14, Pereira received an assessment at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy (part of the IMG Academy). He was evaluated to have the potential as a top 30 player in the world and was offered a scholarship. Due to his lengthy layoff, Pereira suffered due to back injuries once he began playing golf again.

In 2012, Pereira's father developed a serious illness, which caused Pereira to consider retiring from golf. The family was no longer able to afford membership at the golf club where Pereira practiced, but the club intervened and offered him free membership. Following this victory, he began to receive scholarship offers from American universities.

Pereira was recruited to play for Texas Tech University beginning in fall 2014. Greg Sands, head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders golf team, offered him a scholarship despite only seeing him play a few times. Fellow Chilean Matías Domínguez helped to convince Pereira to pick Texas Tech. Pereira shot a 9-under 63 at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational in October 2014. Pereira tied for eighth at the Big 12 Championships in April 2015 at Southern Hills Country Club, nine strokes behind the winner Scottie Scheffler. Pereira ended his freshman year at Texas Tech ranked 68th in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings and 118th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He announced in July 2015 that he had decided to leave university and turn professional.

Professional career After leaving Texas Tech University, Pereira returned to Chile and began training again with Eduardo Miquel.

On the 2020–21 Korn Ferry Tour, he won the Country Club de Bogotá Championship in February 2020. With back to back victories at the Rex Hospital Open and BMW Charity Pro-Am in June 2021, he earned an instant promotion to the PGA Tour. He became just the 12th player in the developmental tour's 32-year history to earn the automatic three-win promotion, and the first since Wesley Bryan in 2016. In August 2021, Pereira finished in a tie for 3rd place at the Olympic Games. He lost in a 7-man playoff for the bronze medal.

At the 2022 PGA Championship, he entered the final round with a three-shot lead over Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick, at 9-under-par. However, he struggled throughout the day, and reached the par-4 18th hole at Southern Hills at 6-under, with a one stroke lead over Zalatoris and Justin Thomas. Having missed his birdie putt at 17 by mere inches, he was aggressive off the tee, ultimately finding the right hand side creek, leading to a double bogey. He ended up tied for third place, as Thomas defeated Zalatoris in a playoff. Pereira was the third player over the previous 20 years to double-bogey the 72nd hole in a major and finish one shot out of a playoff; Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie both did it at the 2006 U.S. Open.

Pereira qualified for the International team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he played three matches, tying one and losing two.

In February 2023, it was announced that Pereira joined LIV Golf and will participate as a team member of Torque GC, alongside team captain and fellow Chilean Joaquín Niemann. Pereira finished runner-up at LIV Golf Greenbrier in August 2023. He also had three other top-5 finishes and placed at No. 8 in the 2023 LIV Golf League seasonal rankings. In the 2025 LIV Golf League season, he finished No. 51, Pereira made over US$11.5 million during his three seasons on LIV Golf.

In December 2025, Pereira announced his retirement from professional golf. He stated: "I spent many years living away from home, in another country, countless weeks in hotels and airports. Now, the time has come to pause. Chile is my place in the world, and my family is my reason for being."

Personal life In December 2021, Pereira married Antonia Prida, whom he had known since childhood. They had their first child in 2024.

Pereira appeared in the sports documentary series Full Swing, which premiered on Netflix on February 15, 2023.

Amateur wins 2008 Optimist International Junior Golf Championship 2013 Golden Cup, Abierto Las Brisas de Santo Domingo, Abierto Las Araucarias, Los Leones Amateur, Campeonato de Chile Match Play, Abierto Las Brisas De Chicureo 2014 Abierto de Marbella, Abierto de Granadilla, Abierto Las Brisas de Santo Domingo, Abierto La Posada, Campeonato Internacional de Aficionados Copa Carlos Raffo, Los Leones Amateur, Campeonato de Aficionados de Chile - Match Play

Source:

Professional wins (13) Korn Ferry Tour wins (3)

Korn Ferry Tour playoff record (1–1)

PGA Tour Latinoamérica wins (1)

TPG Tour wins (1)

Chilean Tour wins (8)

Playoff record Other playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in The Players Championship CUT = missed the halfway cut

Team appearances Amateur Eisenhower Trophy (representing Chile): 2014

Source:

Professional Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2022