LIV Golf gets another Olympian as Chilean player drops out of Paris Games

Mito Pereira will compete in his second Olympics after all.

The 29-year-old Chilean, who three years ago lost in a playoff for the bronze medal in Tokyo, was added to the 60-man field for Paris after countryman Cristobal del Solar withdrew from the competition in order to focus on earning his PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour, according to the official Team Chile account.

Del Solar, who fired a 57 at the Astara Golf Championship in February before finishing solo fifth, has five top-10s on the KFT this season and ranks No. 18 in points with 12 weeks remaining, including this week. The top 30 players at the end of the season earn Tour cards.

“He wanted to get to a certain number of points because obviously he’s fighting for his PGA Tour card,” Pereira told LIV Golf’s Mike McAllister. “It’s not that one is more important than the other. Obviously trying to get to the PGA Tour is his main goal. He made that decision and I think it’s very smart to do it.”

The Olympic men’s golf competition is set for Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup. That overlaps with the Aug. 1-4 Utah Championship on the KFT.

With Pereira being added, LIV now has seven players competing at the Olympics. Joaquin Niemann will join Pereira in representing Chile while Jon Rahm (Spain), David Puig (Spain), Carlos Ortiz (Mexico), Abraham Ancer (Mexico) and Adrian Meronk (Poland) are also qualified.