Tag: Raul Pereda

6 notable players who missed the cut at the PGA Tour’s 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta

The field of 132 at the Mexico Open was reduced to 65 on Friday night after the cut came in at 2 under.

The field of 132 at the Mexico Open at Vidanta was reduced Friday night after the cut came in at 2 under, and that sent 65 players to Saturday’s third round.

It’s not the most star-studded field on the PGA Tour this season, but there were still some notable names among the 67 who failed to make the weekend at Vidanta Vallarta, a 7,456-yard golf course where Tony Finau – who is tied for ninth – is the defending champion.

Still up for grabs for those playing is the $1,458,000 first-place prize as well as a Masters invite, if one is not already secured by the man who hoists the trophy come Sunday.

Here’s a closer look at some who didn’t.

Meet the five golfers who earned their 2024 PGA Tour tour cards at Q-School

The final stage of the 2023 PGA Tour Q-School marks the first time since 2012 there were tour cards on the line.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Emma Springer held 1-year-old daughter Annie aloft as if she was Simba in “The Lion King,” smiled and said, “Baby, we’re celebrating tonight and you have no idea why!”

The reason is quite simple: husband Hayden Springer is PGA Tour bound for the first time. The 26-year-old, who played on PGA Tour Canada this season, shot 1-under 69 at Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass on Monday. That was good enough to finish at 8-under 272 and T-4 and earn one of five PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season.

After a decade of solely awarding varying levels of Korn Ferry Tour membership, final stage of the 2023 PGA Tour Q-School marks the first time since 2012 there were tour cards on the line. The next 40 finishers and ties are exempt for multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, guaranteeing them between eight to 12 starts depending on their finish. The next 20 finishers and ties earned exempt status for the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA Tour Americas season in addition to conditional Korn Ferry Tour status. All remaining finishers outside the aforementioned categories earned conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas membership for 2024.

Springer entered the week with full Korn Ferry Tour status after topping the 2023 PGA Tour Canada’s season-long Fortinet Cup, but he’s skipping straight to the big leagues along with Mexico’s Raul Pereda, Trace Crowe, Blaine Hale Jr., and medalist Harrison Endycott.

Springer’s story was all the more remarkable because just over a month ago, on Nov. 13, his oldest daughter, Sage, died at age 3. She was prenatally diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a developmental disorder stemming from an extra chromosome.

Springer said he thought of Sage several times during the final round.

“It’s happy thoughts,” he said. “It’s kind of one of those things that I think about her, and I just think about her smile. Like that’s the thing that I can just close my eyes and think about her smiling, and it’s kind of a grounding, kind of gets you back to neutral.”

Springer’s wife was greenside at 18 with Annie in her stroller but when she started crying, Emma wheeled her away. Hayden’s dad took over so Emma, who played on the women’s team at Texas Tech, could witness him seal the deal with a 2-putt par at 18.  Three front-nine birdies lifted Springer into solid position to finish in the top 5. But he made bogeys at Nos. 11 and 12 to move into shakier ground. A birdie at the par-3 14th gave him a cushio again.

“Bouncing back and making birdie there definitely kind of got me back into it, got me back on the right track,” he said.

But he drove into the water at 17 and made bogey, which meant he needed to avoid the water off the tee at 18. As his father put it, “Can you make it any harder?”

“I’ve worked essentially my whole life to get into this position, and you dream about it,” said Springer, who began playing U.S. Kids events at age 8. “It’s like you don’t know exactly when that day will come, but today is the day.”

Here’s the story of the four other newly minted PGA Tour members.

2023 Mexico Open: Tony Finau’s fire start, Jon Rahm is lurking and more from Friday’s second round

Catch up on Friday’s action here.

After finishing runner-up to Jon Rahm in 2022, Tony Finau has used rounds of 65-64 to take the 36-hole lead at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.

Finau made eight birdies around Vidanta Vallarta on Friday, including two stretches of three in a row — Nos. 16, 17 and 18 (his seventh, eighth and ninth of the day) and Nos. 5, 6, and 7.

“After 36 holes I’m playing nicely, find myself at the top,” he said when asked about his confidence level after two rounds. “With my experience, we’re only halfway, there’s so much golf to be played. You always want to say that you have what it takes to win a golf tournament. I think luckily for me, I’ve done that a few times over the last year, but every week has its own challenges, every day has its own challenges, so this is not a time to get ahead of myself.”

Finau (13 under) leads Erik van Rooyen and Brandon Wu by one stroke.

If you missed any of Friday’s action south of the border, no worries, we have you covered. Here are some highlights from the second round of the Mexico Open.

Mexico Open: Photos

2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta: A 65 in a PGA Tour debut and a swarm of bees among takeaways from first round

Watch out for the bees.

Raul Pereda is ranked 810th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Before Thursday’s opening round of the 2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta, he had never played a round on the PGA Tour.

By the end of his first 18 holes, he was tied for second after an opening 6-under 65.

What a debut.

The 26-year-old, one of seven players from Mexico playing in Puerto Vallarta at Vidanta Vallarta this week, was born in Mexico City and played collegiately at Jacksonville University. In his most recent starts on PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the Mexican tour, he has a mixed bag of results. A few top fives. A few missed cuts.

Now, he’s near the lead of a PGA Tour event.

“I just think more than the score I’m proud I was able to stay very present shot by shot,” Pereda said. “My coach, my old coach from school just told me just enjoy shot by shot, and sometimes it sounds easier said than getting it done. I was just able to stay in the present and give myself opportunities and roll it very good today.”

His old coach, Mike Blackburn, has talked with Pereda about taking everything shot-by-shot and living in the moment. And that paid off.

“My mental game was on point, my driver was very good, I think my strategy was very good,” Pereda said. “I think it was all on me today.”

Austin Smotherman, meanwhile, birdied his final four holes, including a chip-in on the ninth, his last of the day, and leads at 8 under after the opening round. Pereda is in a group two shots behind including Tony Finau, Stephan Jaeger, Eric Cole and Taylor Pendrith.

Defending champion and World No. 1 Jon Rahm finished at 4 under after an even-par front nine.