Guillermo Pereira was one of the great surprises of the first day of golf in the Olympic Games. The Chilean completed the day with a card of 68 strokes, two under par on the court, and is ranked 21st in the standings, in the upper middle part of the table.
The most valuable thing is that it was not an easy day in the Kasumigaseka Country Club. ‘Myth’ had to deal with high temperatures first, and then with an unexpected storm that suspended the day for two hours, when he was on the 18th hole.
But Mito showed the good level exhibited during the last weeks on the PGA Tour and completed a very good lap, over several favorites and even his friend Joaquín Niemann (closed with -1).
The Chilean started the day around 9.20am in Japan, and he was gaining confidence as the holes passed. He started with a bogey and recovered with a first birdie on hole 3. He repeated it on 14, 15 and 17 confirming his good closing. A second bogey at 5 took him away from the Top Ten.
“He plays with a liar ranking, he is a great player,” says Niemann about Pereira, who is 178 in the Fedexcup, but who has just obtained 5th place in two PGA Tour tournaments: 6th at the Barbasol Championship and 5th at the 3M Open. In golf we can be double excited.
