Golf world reacts to Mito Pereira’s PGA Championship collapse

Standing on the 72nd hole, Mito Pereira needed only a par to win the PGA Championship on Sunday at Southern Hills. Then, disaster struck.

Pereira’s tee shot not only went way off-line but into the water.

Making a par was possible but wasn’t especially realistic. In one shot, Pereria’s focus shifted from winning outright to finding a way to make bogey to get into a playoff. It didn’t happen. After dropping his second shot, Pereira hit his third shot left of the green. He could have made par with miracle chip-in but misread the slope and missed the green entirely.

His bogey putt to get into the playoff from the fringe did not go in. And while Pereira did regain enough focus to make a double-bogey, he missed the playoff by one shot.

Those watching the tournament had a lot to say about Pereira’s collapse.

It would have not only been Pereira’s major championship but first PGA Tour win of any kind. The 72nd hole was also brutal from a financial standpoint for Pereira.

It didn’t quite have the cringe factor of Jean Van de Velde in the 1999 British Open or Phil Mickelson at the 2006 U.S. Open. But what made those so excruciating is that both Van de Velde and Mickelson made multiple mistakes that could have changed their ultimate results. With Pereira, one stunning mistake completely changed his fortune.