Five months after his historic victory at the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira made his debut in his second major of the year, the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
Courtesy of his victory, Fernandez de Oliveira claimed exemptions into the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open and The Open. After his win, Fernandez de Oliveira struggled to wrap his mind around his accomplishment but was already looking forward to the opportunities in front of him.
“I'm still very shocked. I think my life has changed,” said Fernandez de Oliveira in January. “I'm looking forward to a great year. I'm going to take advantage of the three opportunities that I've been given for winning this event. So I'm very happy and I just want to enjoy every second of it.”
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira makes U.S. Open debut
While the 23-year-old ultimately came up short in his bid to make the cut at the 2023 U.S. Open, his rounds were highlighted by birdies at the sixth, 10th and 13th holes, and perhaps even more so by his playing partners. Fernandez de Oliveira was paired with two top Latin American players in Argentine star Emiliano Grillo and Chilean Mito Pereira, who nearly won the 2022 PGA Championship.
“Playing with them was the best thing that happened all week,” reflected Fernandez de Oliveira. “It’s an honor just to be identified with them as a part of a group that represents Latin America…And not just playing with Grillo and Mito but seeing all of the guys during the week like Niemann, Muñoz and all of the other Latino guys. They are great guys and great people. So that was very good for the week and for Latin America to have a group of guys who come together and try to represent the region in the best way possible.
“The USGA did a great job in setting that tee time up,” continued Fernandez de Oliveira. “I’ve always seen them growing up playing on the biggest stages. That was a dream of mine to play with them so getting to do that was really cool, just getting to play with them and speak my own language.”
With two major championship appearances under his belt over the past couple of months, Fernandez de Oliveira will now turn his attention to The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool next month. He will look to become the second consecutive LAAC champion to make the cut after Aaron Jarvis of Cayman Islands impressed last summer en route to a T76 finish.
