After having his appendix removed late in 2023, San Francisco native Isaiah Salinda made a promise to himself that his first start on the Korn Ferry Tour would be in Panama.
Not only did Salinda make the journey, he’d end up celebrating a huge victory.
The 26-year-old Salinda, a former standout at Stanford who played in NCGA tournaments and won the Pacific Coast Amateur, secured one of the most decisive victories in KFT history, rolling to an eight-stroke win at The Panama Championship. The eight strokes tied the fourth-largest margin of victory in KFT history.
“I'm very excited to win here in Panama,” Salinda said. “I think the only time I looked at the leaderboard was on No. 9 or 10… it was still pretty stacked. After No. 12 I knew I had a pretty good cushion and didn't look at any leaderboards after that.”
Salinda, who shared the 54-hole lead with Canadian Wil Bateman, closed with a 5-under 65 to come in at 12-under 268.
Along with recovering from having his appendix removed, Salinda had to stomach failing to advance through PGA Tour Q-School. The win makes it all feel better.
“It's hard not to get down on yourself based on the results because I felt I was putting in the work and just wasn't getting the results I wanted,” Salinda said. “Going into this year I knew that I was just going to try and have a fresh start, some more positive attitude every round, every tournament.”
At the 2018 Pacific Coast Amateur at Olympic Club, Salinda posted a tournament and course-record third round 62 on the Lake Course that propelled him to victory.