PGA Tour rookie’s long-shot charge at Mexico Open comes up short. But there’s a silver lining

All PGA Tour rookie Isaiah Salinda wanted to do Sunday at the 2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld was give himself a chance.

Entering Sunday, it seemed unlikely that Salinda, who entered the day seven shots back of 54-hole leader Aldrich Potgieter, could mount a realistic charge toward his first career PGA Tour win. But golf often delivers the unexpected.

The former Stanford standout went out in 2-under-par before carding four birdies on the back nine to shoot a bogey-free 65 and get in the clubhouse at 19-under. When Salinda made his nine-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, he was the leader in the clubhouse and tied with Potgieter and Brian Campbell, who still had three holes to play.

Salinda signed his card and watched nervously as Potgieter and Campbell hit nervy shot after nervy shot down the stretch.

It looked for a moment like Salinda might sneak into a playoff at 19-under, but both Potgieter and Campbell birdied the 18th hole to post 20-under and hand Salinda a third-place finish. Campbell would go on to beat Potgieter on the second playoff holes with some help from the golf gods.

While Salinda’s valiant charge came up short, it was still a successful week for the former amateur star at Vidanta Vallarta. With the third-place finish, Salinda jumps to second place in the Aon Swing 5 — one spot behind Potgieter — and has the inside track to earn a ticket to the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in two weeks.

“Played a great round,” Salinda said on Sunday. “Obviously, a little disappointed that it came up just one shot short. To at least give myself a chance was all I wanted to do today. I thought honestly being however many back I was, like seven, I knew it was a long shot. Yeah, I can’t be too upset about it. I played a good round and just came up one shot short.

“Top-10s are huge out here. That was kind of my primary goal going into today, just to lock up a top-10 and get into next week, hopefully Players and Bay Hill, and all those events.”

Salinda was an accomplished junior golfer and earned second-team All-American honors as a senior at Stanford while helping the Cardinal win the NCAA Division I men’s golf title.

Sunday’s finish was Salinda’s best in his PGA Tour career, and it was his first top-10 finish since he recorded a T7 at the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open.

Like Salinda, Potgieter played himself into next week’s Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches. But while Salinda is looking to ride his hot play, the 20-year-old South African might take a different approach since he sits atop the Aon Swing 5 and should be locked into the API.

Potgieter held the 36-hole lead after shooting a sizzling 61 on Friday. But he shot just 4-under on the weekend and was eventually tracked down by Campbell.

Potgieter is a prodigious driver, but other parts of his game let him down as the intensity ratcheted up. He hopes to take the lessons learned in a heartbreaking loss in Vallarta and turn them into a map to success for the next time he’s in the cauldron.

“Pressure’s a big thing,” Potgieter said after losing in a playoff to Campbell. “You can’t really beat it. You just have to learn and adjust to it next time you’re in this position again. I’m really happy with how I played this week and trying to do that the following week, I guess. If you told me I would get second place before the week started, I would definitely have taken it. We’re just happy to have gotten into a playoff. The way I played today wasn’t my best, and I was having to chase the whole time. It was nice to see some good results in the last five, six holes of the tournament.”

The 2025 Mexico Open lacked star power, but it showcased several of the PGA Tour’s newest players who just arrived via the Korn Ferry Tour pathway.

Campbell, a 31-year-old former top amateur, bested Potgieter and Salinda to complete an unlikely golf comeback story.

But Salinda and Potgieter didn’t leave Mexico empty-handed. They are now on the fast track to the next Signature Events and have the confidence and proof that they can contend and win at this level.

For Salinda and Potgieter, it’s a matter of when, not if.