Joe Saladino wins all-LI match in real LI weather

      Joe Saladino of Huntington defeated fellow Long Island native R.J. Nakashian, 5 and 4, in the second round of the U.S. Mid-Amateur amid the hard East End wind and steady rain at Bridgehampton's Atlantic Golf Club.

          Nakashian, a Bayville native who now lives and works in Florida, got off to a good start in rough conditions, 1 under through six holes. But Saladino was one better. He extended the lead on the par-3 seventh to go 2 up, won with a par on No. 8 and--in probably the biggest momentum moment of the match--sank a 22-footer for par on No. 9 to stay 3 up.

         Saladino made only one bogey all day, on the par 4 12th.

         He will play the winner of the Tim Mickelson-Keith Humerickhouse match, scheduled to be held this afternoon. But play has been suspended.