PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Isaiah Salinda made another valiant comeback, but came up just short Saturday in the semifinals of the 118th U.S. Amateur Championship at famed Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The senior from South San Francisco rallied from an early 2-down deficit against UCLA sophomore Devon Bling, and closed the gap to 1-down with two holes remaining. Both were halved with pars, as Bling prevailed, 1-up.
Starting early in cool, foggy conditions, Bling won the fourth and fifth holes to go 2-up. Salinda answered by winning the next two holes to square the match. Bling birdied 10, 11 and 12 to regain his 2-up advantage.
Salinda fought back again with a birdie at 13, but Bling responded with another birdie at 14. Salinda cut the lead to 1-down with a birdie at 16, but couldn't catch him.
Salinda carded six birdies during the round.
It capped a fabulous summer for Salinda, who paced Stanford with a tie for 15th at the NCAA Championships, won the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, thanks to a competitive course-record 9-under 62 on the Lake Course at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, reached the Round of 16 in the Western Amateur, and earned medalist honors to qualify for his first U.S. Amateur.
Rounds of 68-76 on Monday and Tuesday at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, respectively, advanced Salinda to match play on Wednesday. He defeated four opponents to reach the semifinals.
Salinda was the fifth Cardinal golfer to reach the semifinals. Lawson Little won the U.S. Amateur in 1934 and 1935; Tiger Woods won in 1994, 1995 and 1996; Joel Kribel was runner-up in 1997; David Chung was runner-up in 2010.