#TOURBound: Raul Pereda rides two chip-ins to first PGA TOUR card

Editor's note: PGATOUR.COM's #TOURBound stories take a closer look at the players who earned PGA TOUR cards. Check back throughout the week for stories on the other four players who earned TOUR cards at PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The stakes were high at PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, but Raul Pereda wasn’t going to let the stress get the best of him.

Pereda started Monday’s final round in fifth place, the final position for a 2024 PGA TOUR card. Birdies on two of his first five holes were the perfect start to the most important round of his career. Then things quickly turned.

He hit his tee shot into the water on the par-4 sixth hole and his tee shot on the next hole went out of bounds. He played the two holes in 3-over par, putting his PGA TOUR card in jeopardy. He said he could feel the “old guy” emerging, the one who would succumb to the anxiety and put too much pressure on himself.

But not this time. He kept those emotions at bay.

“I didn't get ahead of myself," Pereda said. When I was falling behind walking from the group, I was just encouraging myself and calming myself, telling myself go, and you can do it, and you're born for this."

“My sports psychologist back in the day, he always taught me how to look at this like a boxing fight. You're going to hit, but you're going to get hit, as well. I got hit early in the round, and I still had 12 holes to go, so I might as well put some punches out there.”

His persistence paid off. Instead of adding to the litany of heartbreak in the history of this event, he authored a story on the other end of the spectrum. Using two chip-ins on his final nine holes, Pereda earned an immediate promotion from PGA TOUR Americas to the PGA TOUR.

He is another example of how quickly Q-School can change lives. He entered the week ranked 891st in the world. He’s made just one PGA TOUR start in his five-year pro career. Pereda didn’t even know he’d qualified for the final stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry when he left his Second Stage site. One of his mentors, former PGA TOUR player Jeff Klauk, had to call and inform him that two late bogeys had lifted him inside the cutline.

Qualifying for PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry was an opportunity for him to compete at home, at two golf courses he’d been playing since his college days at Jacksonville University. He still lives nearby.

“I think the fact that it happened here was meant to be,” Pereda said. “It was for a reason. It was set for me at the table, and I just took advantage of it the best way possible. I'm very thankful that I landed where I am.”

Pereda’s local ties are one reason why a large crowd gathered around the 18th green of the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass. Among those in the gallery were Klauk, fellow PGA TOUR player Russell Knox and Pereda’s college coach, Mike Blackburn. Pereda’s clutch performance came a day after he was in the emergency room with his father, Francisco, who was suffering with kidney stones. The hospital visit helped keep Raul’s mind off of what awaited Monday. Francisco had to watch Q-School’s final round from the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse, however.

“He couldn't go out there and watch. I'm glad he didn't because he probably would have had a heart attack,” Raul said.

Pereda’s two hole-outs Monday were part of a 1-under 69 that allowed him to finish T4 at 8-under 272, earning his TOUR card without a shot to spare. His birdie on the par-5 16th, where he hit a wedge shot a few feet from the hole, gave him a cushion, allowing him to earn his card with a bogey on the final hole.

“He’s the thinnest human being you’ve ever seen. He must weigh 130 pounds but he generates some nice speed,” said Knox. “He’s one of those guys you play with and you’re like why have you not made it?

“He’s always looked like he was going to make it. He’s stuck at it, hammered away and just put one foot in front of the other.”

Pereda, who was born in Cordoba, Mexico, turned pro five years ago and has played primarily on PGA TOUR Americas and Mexico’s pro tour (when he was 17, he became the first amateur to win on that circuit).

He’s played just one tournament apiece on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR since turning pro. That sole TOUR start, at this year’s Mexico Open presented by Vidanta, played an important role in Pereda’s path to a TOUR card.

Pereda was in fourth place after shooting 65 in the first round. He holed out from 249 yards for eagle on his seventh hole of the second round and made another eagle in the final round after his tee shot on the 297-yard seventh stopped 2 feet from the hole. Pereda started the final round inside the top 20, but finished T60 after a final-round 76.

“(It) put in perspective that I'm made for this … and that it was just a matter of time for me to start believing in it,” he said. “It really encouraged me to play hard and trust what I've done.”

That trust resulted in his first PGA TOUR card.