The Players Championship: Opportunity Missed for Isaiah Salinda

The PGA Tour has welcomed fresh new faces for quite some time, with the younger athletes specifically looking to become the new faces. One in particular being Isaiah Salinda, the 27-year-old most recently participating in his first signature event at Bay Hill. With a 45th place finish in his most recent action, the young golfer has been searching for a better go around at The Players Championship. Salinda has one top five finish in his last five tournaments, a beginning step in the right direction. With a disappointing 68th position on the leaderboard at the end of Sunday, it’s an opportunity missed.

Next Big Step For Salinda

With the Players Championship having now finished up, this could have been a huge opportunity in the bag for Salinda in more ways than one. The most important, his first PGA Tour career win started strong after round one, but continued to take a downward spiral. Having four cuts made in this 2025 season thus far, that streak continued with Salinda making the cut at The Players Championship. Salinda concluded his weekend with a 68th place finish in the tournament, having finished both round three and four with a lackluster 78.

With his worst rounds yet, totaling in with seven bogeys and only five birdies. On the other hand, the first two rounds were much more productive and similar to play seen in recent events. Starting the tournament off with a 69 put Salinda in prime position, yet he began to slowly regress with a round two finish of 71.

Through the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Stanford alum currently ranks seventh in strokes gained off the tee. One position ahead of the world-renowned Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler, who is the most recent winner at The Players Championship. Yet, those like Salinda will be eager to put themselves more clearly “on the map” with big performances. According to CBS Sports, he has hit 257 greens on 378 holes this 2025 season. That’s good enough to be placed 103rd in the field, and only looking to keep climbing.

Payout Still Secured Despite Shortcoming

This was the first ever appearance for Salinda at this respective tournament, with a total purse of $25 million. Life changing money and opportunity being at the forefront for the young star, having trouble in this go around but still securing a respectable payout. With his 68th place finish, Salinda was able to take home $52,250 and lots of insight in how to better his game moving forward.

Over the course of this 2025 season, the ability to perform better than some top leaders has been evident. Salindas game around the green has been on the steady rise, even better than Scheffler who found his way into a ten way tie for 20th place. Staying ahead of schedule and efficiency will be key moving foward, as he slowly regressed round for round during the Players Championship. Not able to find a way from putting together low bogey rounds, resulting in thin opportunities at success for Salinda throughout.

His first ever appearance at The Players Championship should be one used for guidance, looking at his play one round at a time. With 234 points, Salinda currently ranks 54th in the FedEx Cup standings but expected to drop six spots to 60th. Having gained 16 more points during his last event, and looking to continue a current streak of four consecutive events with points earned. With crossing one mark off his list by making the cut into round three, Salinda will now attempt to better his performance with his next expected appearance at the Valero Texas Open come April.

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