PUERTO VALLARTA, JALISCO, MEXICO – Jacksonville University men's golf alum Raul Perada made the cut in his PGA Tour debut on Friday at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.
 
Perada, who graduated from JU in 2018, opened the event with a 6-under 65 on Thursday and is T12, sitting -7 heading into the weekend at Vidanta Vallarta.
 
The native of Cordoba, Mexico, made the field as a sponsor invite, and has made the most of the opportunity thus far. He shot -4 on the front nine in the first round, making birdies on hole three, and then rattling off three straight red numbers to close out his first nine. After making the turn, he added another birdie on the Par-5 12th, and scored his sixth and final of the round on the Par-5 14th. He completed his first round of his PGA Tour career without a bogey and was T4 heading into Friday.
 
His second carried a little more of a roller coaster experience, but still carried a splash, with a sensational eagle on the Par-4 16th, his seventh hole of the day. A hybrid shot from the left side of fairway from 249 yards out bounced three times and rolled straight into the flagstick, dropping into the cup for a two. That got him back to three-under for the day, which was the lowest he got, mixing up three bogeys and two birdies on the back nine to finish 1-under in his second round.
 
He has 10 birdies so far in the event, which is T18 overall and is top-10 in the field in driving accuracy. He is set to tee off round three on hole one tomorrow at 11:55 a.m. in a threesome with Americans Beau Hossler and Trevor Werbylo. Tony Finau is the leader at -13.
 
Pereda concluded a stellar career at JU as the program record-holder for stroke average in a single-season, with a 70.54 his senior season. His career scoring average is second-best in program history and was a two-time All-ASUN selection. He was also a part of the 2016-17 team that advanced to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship in Sugar Grove, Illinois, after qualifying by winning the Baton Rouge Regional.