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Jul 24, 2021

Devon Bling wins 54th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship in a playoff

Devon Bling
Devon Bling

News from the Final Round

Devon Bling of Ridgecrest, Calif. shot rounds of 71-66-62-73 and survived a five-hole playoff to win the 54th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, hosted this week at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

“It feels incredible to come out on top,” said Bling, “I fought all the way to the end and I’m super happy to be able to come out on top.”

Bling entered the day with a three-shot lead and fired a 2-over 73 in today’s final round, putting him a five-man playoff with Dylan Menante of La Costa, Calif., Joe Highsmith of Lakewood, Wash., Sam Choi of Anaheim, Calif. and Walker Lee of Houston, Texas.

“The course was playing harder, but nothing fell in,” said Bling, “today was just one of those days where nothing would go in, but that’s just golf.”

In the playoff, Bling played steady golf and slowly watched as his competitors fell by the wayside.  Walker Lee was eliminated after the first playoff hole, Dylan Menante and Sam Choi were eliminated after three playoff holes and Joe Highsmith was ousted after the fifth playoff hole.

“I feel like if I hit solid shots into the middle of the green and give myself looks for birdie, it’s gonna take a lot to beat that,” said Bling on his mindset in the playoff, “my strategy didn’t change, but I knew it was gonna be a grind.”

Click here to watch the full video interview with Devon Bling.

Bling is the No. 97 ranked amateur in the world (WAGR) and recently finished his senior season on the UCLA Bruins Men’s Golf Team. In 2018 he finished runner-up at the U.S. Amateur. In 2019 he played in the Masters and was one of four amateurs to make the cut.

Finishing in a tie for second place at 12-under par for the championship are Dylan Menante, Joe Highsmith, Sam Choi and Walker Lee.

Notable:

  • The low score of the final round was a 6-under 65 shot by Dylan Menante.
  • Just four players shot under par in all four rounds of the championship; Joe Highsmith, Walker Lee, Hazen Newman of Las Vegas, Nev. And Youssef Guezzale of La Jolla, Calif.
  • Four players from Washington finished the championship under-par; Joe Highsmith, John Sand of Hoquiam, RJ Manke of Lakewood and Ian Siebers of Bellevue.
  • 30 players out of the 84 player field finish the championship at even-par or better.
  • The 501-yard par-4 first hole played as the toughest hole in the final round. The hole saw just two birdies and had a scoring average of 4.54.