Joaquín Niemann and Guillermo Pereira said goodbye to RBC Heritage with an irregular final round. Joaco closed his participation in 12th place, with a cumulative card of -9, while Mito finished in 26th place, with -7. The champion, meanwhile, was the North American Jordan Spieth, who beat the also American Patrick Cantlay in the tiebreaker, after they tied for the top with -13.
The nationals came from a third round with a positive balance, which allowed them to continue to lie in wait for the leaders. Both made a presentation with a practically traced record, which left them in the top 3 on Thursday, among the top 10 on Friday and in position 13, after Saturday’s session. The feat was still possible for both the Talangantino and Paine’s, since the top was four shots away and, despite the fact that the title looked complex, it was not impossible.
Mito and Joaco, who went out together to face the last day of competition, needed to sharpen their shots to continue in the fight or, at least, in the outposts. Any mistake meant losing positions, in a contest that had several of its participants fighting at the top. But, unfortunately for the Chileans it could not be and they went from less to more throughout the competition.
Niemann had a promising start at the Harbor Town Golf Links. Like Pereira, he started the course on hole 1, staying par until the fourth flag, then scoring his first birdie of the day on the fifth and then repeating the smile on the ninth. The first nine holes were a blow of hope for the recent champion of the Genesis Invitational, who, with a momentary score of -2, entered the top ten again, thus increasing his chances of dreaming.
However, Joaco was very imprecise in the remaining holes and complicated his aspirations. He struggled with a shot over par at the 12 flag, then quickly recovered with a birdie. But a double bogey, on lane 14, kept Joaco away from the title chances. The birdies that he obtained on holes 15 and 18, which he achieved with a spectacular save from the sand that went straight into the hole, served only to finish in the top 20.
Myth, for his part, could not exhibit his best version in Hilton Head, South Carolina either. Despite the fact that, as Niemann did, he started in high spirits, with a birdie at hole 1, he stumbled upon a double bogey at hole 3. Although he was confirmed with another shot under par at the fifth flag, a bogey at the seventh put the panorama uphill for Pereira, who, however, managed to leave his card even once at the end of the first nine holes.
Paine tried not to lose focus and got a new birdie at flag 11, but another bogey, at 14, left his card for the day even, so his accumulated score remained at -7. Still, he finished in the top 30, showing more and more in his first season on the world’s premier golf circuit.
In this way, the Chileans failed to improve their numbers to continue with options until the end. However, both Mito and Joaco continue adding experiences that will surely bring them rewards in the future. Now, both are getting ready for their participation as a binomial in the Zurich Classic. A new test to shine.
