LIV Golf pro gets surprise Olympics call-up after late WD
LIV Golf League player Mito Pereira will compete at the Olympic Games this summer after a late withdrawal from his fellow Chilean.
LIV Golf pro Mito Pereira has been handed the opportunity to play at the Olympics.
The 29-year-old played in the Tokyo Games four years ago and lost in a playoff for the bronze medal.
His chances of qualifying for this summer’s Games in Paris were dealt a significant blow after he joined the breakaway tour.
Players qualified for the Olympics via their Official World Golf Ranking, hence why some huge names missed out.
US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau won’t represent Team USA and he wasn’t too pleased.
But the American, 30, did stress that the blow was a direct result of his own decisions.
Cristobal del Solar qualified ahead of Pereira but the golfer has now withdrawn from the Games.
The golfer pulled out because he wants to concentrate on earning his very first PGA Tour card through the developmental Korn Ferry Tour.
Pereira told the official LIV website: “He wanted to get to a certain number of points because obviously he’s fighting for his PGA Tour card
“It’s not that one is more important than the other.
“Obviously trying to get to the PGA Tour is his main goal. He made that decision and I think it’s very smart to do it.”
With Pereira’s inclusion, that means that LIV will have seven players competing at the Olympics.
Those being:
Joaquin Niemann
David Puig
Carlos Ortiz
Abraham Ancer
Adrian Meronk
Mito Pereira
Olympics golf field:
1. Scottie Scheffler — United States of America
2. Rory McIlroy — Ireland
3. Xander Schauffele — United States of America
4. Ludvig Åberg — Sweden
5. Wyndham Clark — United States of America
6. Viktor Hovland — Norway
7. Collin Morikawa — United States of America
8. Jon Rahm — Spain
9. Hideki Matsuyama — Japan
10. Tommy Fleetwood — Great Britain
11. Matthew Fitzpatrick — Great Britain
12. Matthieu Pavon — France
13. Sepp Straka — Austria
14. Jason Day — Australia
15. Tom Kim — Korea
16. Byeong Hun An — Korea
17. Shane Lowry — Ireland
18. Nick Taylor — Canada
19. Min Woo Lee — Australia
20. Corey Conners — Canada
21. Christiaan Bezuidenhout — South Africa
22. Stephan Jaeger — Germany
23. Nicolai Højgaard — Denmark
24. Thomas Detry — Belgium
25. Emiliano Grillo — Argentina
26. Alex Noren — Sweden
27. Ryan Fox — New Zealand
28. Erik van Rooyen — South Africa
29. Adrian Meronk — Poland
30. Victor Perez — France
31. Keita Nakajima — Japan
32. Thorbjørn Olesen — Denmark
33. Alejandro Tosti — Argentina
34. Joaquin Niemann — Chile
35. Sami Valimaki — Finland
36. Kevin Yu — Chinese Taipei
37. David Puig — Spain
38. Matti Schmid — Germany
39. C.T. Pan — Chinese Taipei
40. Joost Luiten — Netherlands
41. Carl Yuan — China
42. Camilo Villegas — Colombia
43. Matteo Manassero — Italy
44. Adrien Dumont de Chassart — Belgium
45. Daniel Hillier — New Zealand
46. Mito Pereira — Chile
47. Guido Migliozzi — Italy
48. Shubhankar Sharma — India
49. Rafael Campos — Puerto Rico
50. Darius Van Driel — Netherlands
51. Carlos Ortiz — Mexico
52. Kiradech Aphibarnrat — Thailand
53. Gavin Green — Malaysia
54. Gaganjeet Bhullar — India
55. Nico Echavarria — Colombia
56. Kris Ventura — Norway
57. Phachara Khongwatmai — Thailand
58. Abraham Ancer — Mexico
59. Zecheng Dou — China
60. Fabrizio Zanotti — Paraguay