Raul Pereda knows how to impress the home crowd — like holing out from 249 yards away.
The native of Mexico and former Jacksonville University golfer is competing in his PGA Tour debut at the Mexico Open, at the Vindata Vallarta Golf Club and doing it in style.
After firing a first-round 65 to get among the top-five, Pereda, a member of PGA Tour Latinoamerica who is playing this week on a sponsor invitation, set a 2023 benchmark in a Tour event.
He hit a marginal drive of 271 yards on the par-4 16th hole, but then holed out with a fairway wood on the 520-yard hole for an eagle-two.
It’s the longest shot into the green holed on the Tour this season.
He went on to shoot 70 for a two-round total of 7-under 135 and is tied for 12th.
Pereda started his second round at No. 10, birdied Nos. 11 and 12, and bogeyed Nos. 13 and 18 around his eagle-two.
Pereda birdied the par-5 sixth when he laid up and hit a wedge to within 3 feet. He then drove the green of the short par-4 seventh hole and two-putted from nearly 50 feet for another birdie, moving into a tie for fourth at the time. He bogeyed his last two holes after missing the green both times.
Pereda, a native of Mexico City, set the JU single-season scoring record of 70.54 in 2018 when he was on the All-ASUN team. He has nine top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica.
“I was a little nervous on the first tee when they announced my name and making my PGA Tour debut,” he told the media after the first round. “Other than that, I just felt like I was playing with my buddies at home.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Raul Pereda taking advantage of sponsor invitation in PGA Tour’s Mexico Open