Nearly one year after his wife, Leah, died from a rare and highly aggressive sarcoma, Corey Pereira (Sacramento, California) is a winner on PGA TOUR Americas. In just his sixth TOUR-sanctioned start since Leah’s passing, Pereira made eight birdies Sunday en route to a final-round 65 and a four-stroke victory at the Mexico Championship presented by Scotia Wealth Management.
“If it weren’t for golf, I would just be sitting in my room all day like pouting and crying. Golf’s given me an excuse to get outside, something to work toward. That’s been really big for me,” said Pereira, who won with a 22-under total. “I do have just some horrible days where I just don’t want to play golf, so that’s also made it difficult. Honestly, I’m happy that I won, but I wish she was here to celebrate. She was my best friend.”
After her soft-tissue cancer diagnosis in October of 2022, Leah went into remission four times over the next three years. However, the cancer returned each time, and she died on June 22, 2025, at the age of 28.
During Leah’s cancer battle, Pereira made just three TOUR-sanctioned starts, including qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Open, and he Monday qualified for the 2025 Procore Championship to make his first start since Leah’s passing. He missed the cut in all four of these starts and ended the 2025 season without membership on any tour for 2026.
“I’m 31 years old and I had no status as of October. Yeah, of course those thoughts run through your mind,” Pereira said when asked if he thought about changing careers. “But I know that I can play at a really high level. I have a lot of confidence in my game and that’s one of those things that keeps bringing me back is I know I can compete at the next level. … It’s hard to give up when you just have those strong feelings like that.”
The perseverance paid off. Last fall, Pereira competed in PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and medaled at his First Stage site to earn PGA TOUR Americas membership for 2026, the first time he’s held membership since the 2022 season on Korn Ferry Tour.
He opened this season with three straight top-25 finishes, and he’s now No. 2 on the season-long points list after winning for the first time since the 2018 ATB Classic on PGA TOUR Canada.
“That’s the goal when you tee up that first week in a Brazil, try to get a Korn Ferry card, try to get a win out here,” said Pereira, who finished No. 107 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Points List. “This is not a tour where I’m trying to finish fifth, sixth, top 10, top 25. Getting to the Korn Ferry, that’s the goal. I didn’t have my best year last time on Korn Ferry and I want revenge. I want to get out there and do the same thing, get a win.”
Trailing Pereira by two at the start of the day, Riley Lewis (Prescott, Arizona) opened his final round with six straight pars and was unable to cut into the lead. Lewis was bogey-free over the last 29 holes of the tournament, including a hole-in-one on the par-3 ninth on Saturday, but made 15 consecutive pars during that stretch and finished second after a final-round 68.
Mason Williams (Bridgeport, West Virginia) finished third, his second top-three result of the season, while Thomas Ponder (Dothan, Alabama) finished fourth, his fourth straight top-10. Patrick Flavin (Highwood, Illinois) fell off the pace with a final-round 73, but he retains the No. 1 spot on the points list with a T8 finish.
Three players from Mexico finished in the top 20 of their home event, led by a fifth-place finish by Omar Morales (Puebla, Mexico). The top Canadian of the week was Brady McKinlay (Lacombe, Canada), who finished T6.
Next week, PGA TOUR Americas travels to Bogota, Colombia, for its sixth tournament of 2026, the Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship (June 11-14).
