A
lightning
delay
and
darkness
pushed
the
finish
of
MPO
round
one
into
Thursday.
August
31,
2023
by
Kingsley
Flett
in
Analysis,
Recap
with
comments
Tattar
at
the
2023
PDGA
Pro
Worlds.
Photo:
DGPT
With
its
90
holes
spread
over
five
rounds
that
have
often
been
played
out
in
swampy
mid-summer
heat,
the
Pro
World
Championships
is
often
called
a
marathon,
an
analogy
more
worn
out
than
some
of
the
Innova
Eagles
in
2018
World
Champion
Gregg
Barsby’s
bag.
It’s
also
inaccurate,
because
it’s
not
a
marathon,
it’s
a
triathlon:
you
can’t
win
the
event
in
the
early
stages,
but
you
can
put
yourself
in
—
or
out
—
of
contention.
Miss
the
early
jump
into
the
lead
pack
and
it’s
very
hard
to
climb
back
up.
Historically,
most
World
Champions
have
hovered
around
the
top
two
cards
for
the
whole
event.
Despite
the
cooler
Vermont
climate
this
year,
it
seems
that
the
physical
and
mentally
demanding
nature
of
the
Worlds
was
still
on
the
minds
of
most
of
the
field,
something
that
influenced
competitors’
preparation.
“As
a
player,
you
only
have
so
much
mental
energy
to
give
at
tournaments,”
said
2016
and
2017
world
champ
Ricky
Wysocki.
“Once
it
gets
depleted,
that’s
when
you
see
people
get
burned
out.
I
feel
like
I’ve
been
saving
it
up
and
keeping
the
mental
tank
full
for
this
week,
and
I’m
ready
to
burn
that
tank
low
and
not
just
make
a
run
at
the
title
but
win
it.”
“The
worlds
has
always
been
more
rounds
than
most
tournaments
and
I
feel
like
that
falls
in
my
favor,”
said
6-time
world
champion
Paul
McBeth.
“Through
the
years,
I’ve
been
the
most
consistent
player
on
tour,
and
I
think
that
just
really
shows
at
the
Worlds.
We
are
down
to
five
rounds
now
but
when
I
won
my
first
it
was
seven,
a
semifinal,
and
then
a
final
nine,
so
the
more
holes
the
better
for
me.”
It
seems,
though,
that
nobody
told
Kristin
Tattar
that
you
can’t
win
the
tournament
in
the
first
round,
because
it
appeared
that
she
was
trying
to.
Right
from
her
first
throw
in
the
event,
a
laser
beam
straight
320-foot
forehand
drive
that
bisected
the
fairway,
faded,
and
skipped
just
wide
of
the
bullseye
to
give
her
a
birdie
putt,
the
defending
champ
was
focused,
aggressive,
and
precise.
Tattar
had
spoken
in
the
pre-tournament
press
conference
of
the
importance
of
staying
in
her
process
and
not
having
the
overall
goal
at
the
front
of
her
mind;
she
showed
every
sign
of
having
that
focus
locked
in.
The
early
leader,
Finland’s
Silva
Saarinen,
was
5-under-par
after
12
holes;
Tattar
matched
that
score
in
the
first
seven
holes
on
her
way
to
a
provisionally
1034-rated,
8-under-par
54.
It
appears
that
—
following
Tattar’s
890-rated
final
round
in
the
European
Championships,
where
she
saw
a
16-stroke
lead
evaporate
to
3-strokes
at
the
finish
—
rumors
of
a
new
injury
were
greatly
exaggerated.
As
Tattar
said
prior
to
the
tournament,
“I
don’t
have
a
new
injury;
it’s
just
old
things
that
are
popping
up
from
time
to
time.”
Ohn
Scoggins
said
that
Tattar’s
putting
form
in
the
mixed
doubles
championships
was
impeccable,
and
the
putter
stayed
hot
for
Kristen
during
the
first
round:
she
missed
just
a
single
putt
from
circle
one
and
was
red
hot
in
circle
two
(67%),
including
a
memorable
make
on
hole
seven
where
she
threaded
a
putt
through
a
narrow
gap
between
two
trees
from
40-feet
for
the
birdie.
Tattar
holds
a
3-stroke
lead
over
Valerie
Mandujano
with
Kat
Mertsch
another
stroke
back
and
Missy
Gannon
tied
for
4th
place
with
Stacie
Rawnsley
five
strokes
off
the
lead.
In
this
summer
where
Vermont
has
experienced
record
high
rainfall,
the
middle
of
the
FPO
round
turned
into
a
deluge.
“It
was
miserable,”
said
Tattar
after
the
round.
“When
we
were
on
the
par
five,
it
felt
like
somebody
had
a
bucket
full
of
water
and
was
just
pouring
it
on
us.
It
is
probably
the
heaviest
rain
I
have
ever
played
in.”
The
rain
cleared
by
the
MPO
afternoon
round
and
players
who
were
lucky
enough
to
get
an
earlier
tee
time
were
able
to
capitalize
on
the
dry
conditions.
Chris
Clemons
put
together
12
birdies
on
a
clean
sheet
for
an
early
lead
that
started
to
look
better
and
better
as
the
afternoon
wore
on.
Anthony
Barela
hit
11
birdies
but
had
one
blemish
on
his
card
with
a
bogey
on
the
difficult
par
five
hole
8
(the
most
bogeyed
hole
on
the
day)
to
be
10-under.
Following
them
is
the
very
2023
pack
of
seven
players
tied
for
fourth
place.
Most
of
the
field
was
still
on
the
course
and
the
feature
cards
had
barely
teed
off
when
a
lightning
horn
suspended
play
for
long
enough
that
seven
cards
didn’t
have
enough
daylight
to
finish
their
rounds
after
play
resumed.
These
players
are
completing
their
rounds
early
this
morning
before
round
two
commences
later
in
the
day.
Of
these
players,
Aaron
Gossage
and
Niklas
Anttila,
both
running
clean
sheets
and
6-under-par
after
12
holes,
look
the
most
likely
to
get
within
striking
distance
of
Clemons.
Most
of
the
big
names
had
rough
starts
and
have
some
ground
to
make
up:
McBeth,
Wysocki,
and
James
Conrad
are
all
3-under
par,
although
Wysocki
and
Conrad
have
seven
more
holes
to
play.
This
year’s
best
player
so
far,
Calvin
Heimburg,
almost
started
his
Worlds
with
an
ace,
hitting
the
top
band
of
the
basket
off
the
tee
on
hole
one.
He
followed
this
with
a
double
bogey
on
hole
2
before
finding
his
rhythm
and
six
birdies
in
the
next
ten
holes
to
be
5-under-par
with
6
holes
of
round
one
yet
to
play.
So,
in
the
MPO,
it
is
only
really
Chris
Clemons
who
has
put
himself
in
clear
contention.
A
chaotic
and
muddy
picture
will
be
clearer,
literally
and
figuratively,
after
we
complete
day
two
in
what
looks
like
the
beginning
of
a
few
days
of
fine
weather.
Note
that,
in
MPO,
cards
will
not
reshuffle
for
the
second
round:
due
to
the
darkness
delay,
players
will
compete
on
the
same
cards
they
played
on
during
round
one.
It
means
that
Clemons
and
others
will
be
nearly
off
the
course
by
the
time
the
broadcast
starts
for
round
two,
continuing
the
unusual
start
to
this
year’s
Worlds.
