Guillermo Pereira has touched glory. On the last hole, the Chilean missed the opportunity to be crowned champion of the PGA Championship, one of the four majors of the greatest golf circuit in the world. He finished third. But he was leading until the 18th hole, where a bad shot that ended with the ball in the water ended his dream of making history, just after he managed to equalize the victory with a ball , he ran aground at the edge of the hole, preventing him from winning. . In any case, his performance was brilliant and, perhaps, unexpected. He competed on an equal footing with the best. Remarkable, given that he is a rookie on the circuit.

He had already shown he was ready for big things at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when he came close to a bronze medal, but had to settle for fourth place. But now that won’t be the case. Despite this, he showed all his abilities, as if he were one of the most experienced participants. He finished with a -4 card, just one stroke behind Will Zalatoris and Justin Thomas, who took the crown after the tiebreaker.

The native of Pirque knew that all eyes were going to be on him. That the pressure in this type of instance, even more in this type of tournament, is inevitable and that his opponents, those who ended up escorting him on Sunday, would give everything to try to reach the top. While the nerfs are obvious, it looks like Mito handled them well and managed to keep up with the previous days, in which he shone in the eyes of the entire universe.

The mission was nothing more or less than to make history at Oklahoma’s Southern Hills Country Club in the second major of the year. Pereira, who entered the field accompanied by England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, showed confidence that it would be the case, in a first pass that did not come easy for him. After brushing a birdie on the second hole, the par escaped him on the third, forcing him to suffer his first bogey of the day and take a step back.

It was then that Zalatoris turned to definition. He scored with a birdie at the fourth flag and was only one shot away from the Chilean, who was able to do on his own in the same hole what the American had done, but the ball came closer again and he had to settle for a par. Missing that chance complicated Mito’s prospects, as his opponent got his second shot under par in a row and tied it at the top, albeit with hole advantage.

But luck was on Pereira’s side. Zalatoris, at flag six, then sent the ball very close to the edge of the pitch, rendering it virtually unplayable. An impressive save caused him to commit a bogey, which the North American celebrated in any case, because, if he had not succeeded, the leader would have escaped even further in the lead. This allowed her to keep hope alive, in what had been a hand-in-hand luxury.

While the American suffered, Mito was simultaneously within reach of his first birdie of the day, after a spectacular shot. And he managed, to regain his original -9 lead and face the rest of the first pass with a greater share of composure. Although the fight was still hot, Mito had a two-shot advantage over his rivals.

The American continued to decline and hit another over par shot at the seventh flag. This gave Mito a big chance. However, the native of Pirque could not take advantage of it, as he also presented difficulties on the same hole and only overcame it with a bogey, which he repeated on the eighth hole, leaving his momentary score at -7 and remaining with one. further impact on Zalatoris and Cameron Young, who by this time were also getting into the fight.

The final pass was even. Until the 12th hole takes effect. First, with Zalatoris, who dropped to -5 and third place, leaving Young as Mito’s closest follower. Unfortunately for the Chilean, he also suffered in the aforementioned hole, as he had on all previous days, and allowed the New Yorker to equal him at the top.

Thus, it looked like Pereira had a new opponent. However, the American got stuck at flag 14, where he made a bogey that left him level with Zalatoris again. The leader, meanwhile, did not miss the opportunity to get a birdie on the 13th, after brushing against an eagle to position himself even better. At that time, he dominated the event with -7, two shots behind his main rivals.

The newcomer this season on the PGA Tour was already entering the right camp. And always dependent on himself, despite the blow over par he suffered on the 14th hole and which shortened the distance with his escorts. Mito couldn’t take advantage of his options to rise to the top and kept his opponents’ hopes intact, including that of Justin Thomas, who ended up climbing to second place, threatening Pereira with all his experience and closing with -5, waiting for the end of the national round, which had victory in his hands. Zalatoris also caught up with his compatriot.

Mito remained focused and didn’t waver. With two holes ahead, he was still on top. His thirst for the crown was notorious. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to go down in history. On the 17th hole, it looked like he was at the gates of heaven, with a ball that stopped at the edge of the hole.

But misfortune happened. Although it was noticeable with full focus, one bad swing ultimately cost him dearly. The ball falls in the water and his chances of being direct champion are destroyed. Only a bogey could save him, setting him up in the tiebreaker, and he failed to do so, giving Zalatoris and Thomas the opportunity to define the playoff champion.

Pereira, even so, is historic. Because never a Chilean had managed to finish a round in the Top 3 of the competition and this one had been there since Friday, commanding the top until the last hole, where the misfortune happened. Pirque has shown he is a winner. And even if this time it could not be, his opponents know that with him it will never be easy.

It was not the best tournament for Joaquín Niemann. The Talagan man went from plus to minus between Thursday and Saturday, the latter being his lowest day of the competition. A possible crown depended practically on a miracle, on an extremely remarkable performance. He appeared on the final day with a cumulative card of +1, 10 shots from Pereira. And given that, their goal was to achieve a positive closure to say goodbye to the outposts.

But as was Joaco’s tendency in the contest, the irregularity once again slapped his aspirations, on a pitch that gave him several headaches. He finished with a +2 total score, which kept him in 23rd place, where he finished on Sunday. He paid dearly for his mistakes and his task was far from complete.

Niemann, who made the trip accompanied by Australian Cameron Smith, started with a point in favor. He stayed normal until the third hole, where he got his first birdie of the day, getting off to a good start. So far so good, but the worst would come. Because the national has again gone from less to more, being very imprecise in the following flags.

It was at hole six that the bomb exploded. A nightmare which put its objective of the day upstream and from which it could not recover, in spite of a brilliant end. It was a powerful backhand, with a double bogey at flag six, so he was forced to recover as soon as possible, but he couldn’t. He regretted a shot over par at seven and another at 10.

At that time, Joaco was already completely cloudy and his goal, which was to climb positions in the table, He changed to urgently reconstruct an opaque score, which he succeeded with a birdie on the 13th hole then another on the 17th, to leave his card of the day at +1.

The Talagan man was far from his best version, but it’s no surprise that when the PGA Tour is good, he could give anyone a hard time. Bitter end for Niemann, who accompanied his compatriot until the end, encouraging him to win the crown which ultimately did not take place. Joaco finished six strokes behind Pereira and seven behind the leaders.