19th Hole

12 players to follow in 2022: (1) Guillermo Mito Pereira Hinke

Published

2 years ago

Dec 9, 2021

Over the next 12 days, the two presenters on our new ‘Across The Pond’ podcast, Matt Vincenzi and Jason Daniels give their 12 players to follow for 2022 to coincide with the 12 days of Christmas.

None so far have won on their respective tours, so here’s to a long-term watch and investment!

1. Guillermo Mito Pereira Hinke (PGA Tour)

The Chilean, better known as simply Mito Pereira, is hardly a shock inclusion in the list but will surely pay to follow over the next year.

The 26-year-old has a decent junior resume, backed up with a runner-up at the Junior Open Championship, and as an amateur, he beat several home professionals in the 2013 Las Brisas de Chicureo Open. The latter may mean little in the grand scheme of things, but it’s worth noting that current world number 30, Joaquin Niemann, won the same event four years later.

In 2016, Mito became the youngest ever player to rank at the top of the SMA rankings after his first full season saw him land a win, two runner-up finishes, a third and three further top-10s, whilst his first year on the Korn Ferry Tour was highlighted by three top-15 finishes and a third in Nashville, just a shot shy of the play-off between subsequent PGA Tour winners Lanto Griffin and Abraham Ancer.

A single top-10 and couple of top-20 finishes were nowhere near enough to keep his KFT card in 2018 and, having returned home, he recovered from a broken collar bone to again show his class on his home tour where 17 starts were rewarded with one runner-up, three top-five finishes, two top-10s and four top-20s.

Missing KFT Q-School qualification by just one place in 2020 seemed to give him impetus, and he followed up an early opportunity in Panama (3rd) with his maiden victory just a week later. That win, amongst a familiar Spanish-speaking crowd, came courtesy of a 72nd hole eagle and final round 64, giving him a two-shot victory from four shots off the pace overnight.

Perhaps it was a good thing that promotion was suspended through the ‘lockdown’ period and, whilst he started the comeback events slowly, by April this year he had hit his stride, steadily making his way through to the weekend before a couple of top-30s preceded a loss in a three-way play-off at the Huntsville Championship.

Two finishes on the front page were enough to think he had chances to gain his card this year, and he didn’t disappoint, landing back-to-back wins via a play-off at the Rex Hospital and a four-shot win in South Carolina, the total of three victories giving him a fast-track to the top league.

Highly touted before his start at the Rocket Mortgage in July, the Chilean has since rewarded his faithful each-way backers with four top-six finishes in the space of half-a-dozen starts, including a tied-fourth at the classy Tokyo Olympics.

His form has dropped recently with his usual impressive approach and tee-to-green going missing at the RSM and Houston, but that he can finish top-30 without being anywhere near his best gives an indication of what we may expect after a short break and all guns firing.

Clearly look for him in events around the Southern states and South America, but he’s certainly not averse to winning at any course that calls for accuracy, will take to windy conditions, and recent figures may just allow us a few points more than we deserve.

Your Reaction?

LIKE5
LEGIT1
WOW1
LOL0
IDHT0
FLOP1
OB0
SHANK2

19th Hole

Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.

Butch Harmon on what he worked on with Rory:

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make…

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) May 15, 2024

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”

The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.

Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.

New here?

Find out more about GolfWRX and the GolfWRX forums.

Your Reaction?

LIKE9
LEGIT2
WOW0
LOL0
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK2

19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.

“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.

“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.

“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’

“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.

“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”

Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.

Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:

New here?

Find out more about GolfWRX and the GolfWRX forums.

Your Reaction?

LIKE7
LEGIT4
WOW2
LOL1
IDHT0
FLOP3
OB1
SHANK14

19th Hole

Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man was charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National last month.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Since then, more details have emerged about the case.

According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.

The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.

Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”

The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.

Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.