Mito Pereira admitted that Justin Thomas' quip about the Chilean's 2022 PGA Championship collapse left him with a sour taste in his mouth and has motivated him to get revenge in the future.
Pereira's bid to win his maiden Major title was derailed in dramatic fashion when he made a costly double-bogey at the 72nd hole to miss out on the playoff by one shot.
Thomas went on to claim his second Major with a playoff victory over Will Zalatoris and, a year on, jokingly raised a toast in Pereira's honour when he hosted former champions at Oak Hill.
“I personally want to have a cheers to Mito Pereira because this would not happen without him," Thomas said in a scene that was captured as part of season two of Netflix's Full Swing.
“Obviously it gives you a little bit of fire… I really would like to be in that position again, to beat him.”JT’s shot at Mito in Full Swing was some serious bulletin board material. pic.twitter.com/9m0MEnD8uNApril 4, 2024
The comments caused somewhat of a stir online, with Pereira now issuing a response ahead of LIV Golf's latest event in Miami.
“It was not very fun for me or I think for anybody,” he told Fore Play. “I’ve seen Instagram and he’s not getting a lot of love about that. I’m not really close to him so it’s not like I’m going to go talk to him.
"It hurt a little bit, just not really to go at him and say something. It gives you a little bit of fire again. I really would like to be in that position again to beat him.”
Pereira is playing in his second season on the Saudi-backed circuit but is yet to register a top-30 finish in any of the first four tournaments of the year.
Thomas, meanwhile, started the year positively with consecutive top-ten finishes but recently missed the cut at the Players Championship before labouring to a T64 finish at the Valspar Championship.
That recent form, off the back of a disappointing year in 2023, has sparked a change for the American, with the 30-year-old deciding to part ways with caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay on the eve of The Masters. The pair had been together since 2021.
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