Isaiah Salinda of South San Francisco and Devon Bling of Ridgecrest will square off on Saturday morning in the semifinals of the 118th United States Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
No. 29-seeded Salinda, a senior at Stanford, raced to a 4-up lead over No. 5 Will Gordon of Davidson, N.C., after five holes and went on to a 2-up victory in the quarterfinals.
“Things are just together in all parts of my game for the last month or so,” said Salinda, who won the 2018 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship last month at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. “I’m just getting mentally tougher. I’ve never been in this position before.”
No. 41 Bling (pictured), a junior at UCLA, birdied the famed 18th hole at Pebble Beach to turn back No. 32 Davis Riley of Hattiesburg, Miss., in the most dramatic match of the quarters.
“It was intense all day and right from the start,” said Bling, whose last victory came in the Jackrabbit Invitational during the college season. “We got it to the 18th even and I made the birdie to win.”
Second-seeded Cole Hammer of Houston, an incoming freshman at Texas who shared medalist honors with Daniel Hillier of New Zealand, never trailed in downing Alex Fitzpatrick of England, 3 and 2, with a birdie on the 16th hole.
Hammer is 17-1 in match play this year, having won the Western Amateur Championship after teaming with Garrett Barber to capture the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
“I was 2 up after five holes and I hit the ball better today than I did yesterday,” Hammer said. “I’m trying not to think any further down the line.”
In the semifinals, the 18-year-old Hammer will face No. 27 Viktor Hovland of Norway, a junior at Oklahoma State who won seven consecutive holes through No. 8 and routed No. 14 Austin Squires of Union, Ky., 7 and 6, in the quarters.
Hovland carded five birdies in the 12 holes.
“I’m just playing really well,” said Hovland, who helped Oklahoma State win the NCAA Championship on its home course in Stillwater, Okla., May. “I’m hitting the greens and making the putts. I’m just placing the ball in the right spot. I’ve been playing aggressively. I’m teeing it up and hitting it hard.”
The semifinal winners will play a 36-hole final on Sunday for the national title.
For complete results and pairings, visit http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2018/u-s–amateur.html#!scoring
