Tomas Panelo

Tomas Panelo carries a 10-goal handicap — the maximum rating in polo — into the 2026 U.S. Open as the star professional at BTA. A 10-goal rating places Panelo among the very best players on the planet, in the same rarefied air as legends like Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres. Reaching 10 goals is something most professional polo players never achieve. Holding it is harder.

At BTA, Panelo plays alongside Ignacio 'Nachi' Viana at 7 goals, Steve Krueger at 5, and KC Krueger at 1. The team features a father-son duo in the Kruegers, but it's Panelo's 10-goal rating that defines BTA's ceiling. When a team has a 10-goaler, the entire game plan revolves around getting the ball to that player in positions where he can do damage.

Tomas is also one of three Panelo brothers in the 2026 U.S. Open — Benjamin plays for Clinova The Sandbox and Joaquin for The Dutta Corp. As the highest-rated of the three, Tomas is the standard-bearer. Every time BTA faces one of his brothers' teams, the family subplot adds another layer to an already intense tournament.