The Top 10 Storylines of the 2023 PDGA Professional World Championships

From
the
desk
of
Owl
P.
Jackson,
Esq.

September
6,
2023
by


Owl
P.
Jackson,
Esq.
in

Opinion,

Recap
with
comments

The
biggest
tournament
of
the
year
has
come
and
gone.
Five
days
at
Smuggler’s
Notch
delivered
dominant
champions,
tireless
chasers,
and
a
look
at
professional
disc
golf’s
future.
In
my
opinion,
these
are
the
top
10
storylines
of
the
2023
PDGA
Professional
World
Championships.

1.
Isaac
Robinson
wins
his
second
major
of
the
year.

“If
you
got
the
goods,
they’ll
come
and
buy
it.”

Dropping
in
the
final
putt
of
the
tournament,
Isaac
was
at
a
loss
for
words.
“It
doesn’t
even
feel
real,”
he
said.
“I
never
thought
that
this
would
happen.
I’m
soaking
this
all
in
and
it’s
not
gonna
feel
real
for
a
while.”
That’s
understandable.
After
all,
Isaac
is
doing
things
that
no
one
has
ever
done
before.
No
player
has
ever
had
fewer
days
(133)
between
their
first
and
second
major
victories.

Throughout
the
course
of
the
tournament,
Isaac
was
the
only
leader
who
didn’t
quickly
fade
out
of
contention.
He
just
did
it
the
way
the

Isaac
Robinson
does
it
best:
consistently,
smoothly,
and
seemingly
effortlessly.
Even
without
the
drama
of
recent
Worlds,
the
scene
on
hole
18
is
hard
to
forget.
You
can
only
imagine
what
Isaac
must
have
felt.
Dad
on
the
bag,
Ezra
running
in
for
the
hug,
and
the
rest
of
the
Alden
vlog
gang
waiting—“I
want
to
sear
that
in
my
mind
and
have
it
forever.”

2.
Kristin
Tattar
wins
again

“Paint
the
town,
take
a
bow,
thank
everybody.
You’re
gonna
do
it
again.”

“I
just
kept
telling
myself
I
might
be
struggling,
but
I’m
not
failing.
So,
that
kept
me
going.”
That’s
not
exactly
the
type
of
reaction
you
would
expect
from
someone
who
just
won
Worlds
by
six
strokes.
But
when
you
are
as
good
as

Kristin
Tattar
is,
you
expect
excellence.
You
expect
perfection.

Going
into
the
tournament
Kristin
was
the
heavy
favorite
and
she
led
wire-to-wire
en
route
to
her
second
world
championship.
There
isn’t
much
more
that
can
be
said
about
her
dominance
this
year.
She
has
won
10
of
her
15
Pro
Tour
Events
so
far.
So,
what’s
next
for
Kristin?
She
is
one
win
at
U.S.
Women’s
from
completing
the
season
grand
slam.
She
is
also
planning
to
pick
up
wins
at
MVP
Open,
Throw
Pink,
and
the
Tour
Finale.
Maybe
she
will
add
a
1000
player
rating
just
for
good
measure.
Would
you
bet
against
her?
I
wouldn’t.

Asked
if
the
grand
slam
is
important
to
her,
she
quickly
responded,
“Yes,
yes,
for
sure.
It
would
be
a
dream
come
true.”
I
have
a
sneaking
suspicion
that
her
dream
will
soon
become
reality.

3.
Missy
Gannon
steps
up

“You’ll
never
shine
if
you
don’t
glow.”

Going
into
the
tournament,
many
wondered
who
could
challenge
Kristin
Tattar.
5x
champion
Paige
Pierce
was
sidelined
with
an
injury.
2x
champion
Catrina
Allen’s
game
is
in
absolute
shambles.

Ohn
Scoggins
was
forced
to
DNF,
after
clearly
playing
through
intense
pain
in
the
early
rounds
of
the
tournament.
That
left
one
clear
contender—Missy
Gannon.
And
Missy
showed
up
in
a
big
way
this
weekend.

Missy
is
playing
the
best
golf
of
her
season—and
her
career—right
now.
She
was
able
to
pull
within
one
stroke
of
Tattar
during
round
four,
but
ultimately
fell
back
again
on
hole
18.
In
the
end,
she
put
together
the
best
second
place
performance
in
FPO
Worlds
history
and
saved
us
from
five
days
of
Kristin
running
out
the
clock.
Paige
ended
up
being
woefully
wrong
when
she
prematurely
declared
Missy
a
World
Champion
on
Instagram,
but
it
wasn’t
out
of
the
realm
of
possibility.
In
fact,
Missy
might
be
the
only
player
who
has
a
chance
to
steal
a
victory
during
the
final
stretch
of
the
season.

4.
Who
wants
the
win?

“Disappointment
haunted
all
my
dreams.”

MPO
was
a
bit
of
a
jumbled
mess
this
weekend.
It
was
almost
hard
to
follow
who
was
doing
well
and
who
was
on
which
card,
especially
after
a
delayed
finish
on
round
1.
But
that’s
the
way
MPO
has
been
this
season:
everyone
in
the
mix.
Chris
Clemons,
Niklas
Antilla,
Grady
Shue,
Cole
Redalen,
and
Isaac
Robinson
all
led
the
tournament
at
the
end
of
a
round.
Players
like
Chris
Dickerson,
James
Proctor,
Evan
Scott,

Calvin
Heimburg,
and
Kyle
Klein
also
found
themselves
on
lead
cards.
Heavy
hitters
like
Anthony
Barela,
Eagle
McMahon,
and
Matt
Orum
pushed
through
the
mix.
But
only
Isaac
Robinson
was
able
to
hang
on.
Unlike
FPO,
the
rest
of
the
MPO
season
is
wide
open.

5.
The
next
generation

“Well,
the
years
start
comin’
and
they
don’t
stop
comin’.”

The
future
is
here.
That’s
not
saying
the
era
of
Paul
and
Ricky
is
over.
I
still
expect
the
great
players
of
eight
years
ago
to
be
in
contention
and
to
grab
wins,
but
the
young
players
have
arrived.
Simply
take
a
look
at
the
top
10.
While
players
like
Simon
Lizotte
(age
31),

Ricky
Wysocki
(30),
and

Paul
McBeth
(33)
finished
11th,
12th,
and
13th
respectively,
the
average
age
of
the
top
10
was
only
25
years
old—and
that
includes
a
36-year-old
Matty
O.
We’ve
had
teenagers
winning
Elite
Series
events
this
year,
and
that
is
only
going
to
become
more
common.
You
all
know
that
13-year-old
who
mopped
the
floor
with
you
at
your
last
C-tier.
MA40
is
looking
better
and
better.

6.
European
Women

“Somebody
once
told
me
the
world
is
gonna
roll
me.”

What’s
a
World
Championship
without
a
little
representation
from
the
world?
While
no
European
men
were
able
to
crack
the
top
10,
the
European
women
dominated
FPO,
claiming
five
spots
out
of
the
top
10
(and
7
of
the
top
12).
Top
12
finishers
included
Kristin
Tattar
and
Keiti
Tätte
from
Estonia;

Eveliina
Salonen,

Henna
Blomroos,
Silva
Saarinen,
and

Heidi
Laine
from
Finland;
and
Lykke
Lorentzen
from
Norway.
FPO
disc
golf
is
thriving
in
Europe.
On
a
related
note,
Silva
is
going
to
be
truly
great
in
a
few
years.
And
shout
out
to
Lykke
for
an
amazing
final
putt.

7.
Standings
Check-in

“The
ice
we
skate
is
gettin’
pretty
thin;
the
water’s
gettin’
warm
so
you
might
as
well
swim.”

While
tour
points
pale
in
comparison
to
the
world
title,
this
was
a
major
and
that
means
that
1.5x
points
were
on
the
line.
Winning
Worlds
earned
Tattar
a
whopping
0
Pro
Tour
points
(she
maxed
out
her
Major
category
by
winning
at
Champions
Cup
and
European
Open),
but
there
were
plenty
of
other
people
clawing
their
way
up
the
standings.
In
MPO,
Gannon
Buhr
was
actually
able
to
gain
ground
on
Isaac
Robinson
since
he
skipped
European
Open
and
didn’t
have
to
drop
any
points.
Alden
Harris
(currently
16th
in
points)
and
Chris
Clemons
(25th)
were
both
able
to
move
up
four
spots
thanks
to
strong
finishes.
In
FPO,
Holyn
Handley’s
third
place
finish
was
able
to
move
her
into
4th
place
in
points,
jumping
Ella
Hansen
and
a
sputtering
Catrina
Allen.
But
it
was
Lykke
Lorentzen
who
was
able
to
rocket
up
8
places,
currently
earning
her
a
spot
in
the
finale.

8.
MPO
Player
of
the
Year
race

“Only
shootin’
stars
break
the
mold.”

I
still
think
it’s
Calvin,
but
the
Player
of
the
Year
race
keeps
getting
more
and
more
interesting.
What
do
you
value?
Is
it
Calvin’s
two
elite
wins,
silver
win,
and
absurd
consistency?
Is
it
Buhr’s
3
elite
wins
and
2
silvers?
Or
do
Robinson’s
two
major
wins
trump
everything?
Hopefully,
the
final
few
tournaments
will
bring
some
clarity.
You
have
to
consider
those
three
as
favorites
at
each
stop.
Then
again…there’s
always
the
possibility
that
Simon,
Ricky,
and
Eagle
will
string
a
few
together
and
enter
the
conversation.

9.
McBeth’s
streak
comes
to
an
end

“Disappears
right
before
your
eyes
and
you
realize
it’s
like
magic;
just
like
magic.”

What
Paul
McBeth
did
over
the
past
decade
will
never
be
done
again.
Paul
finished
in
1st
five
times
and
in
2nd
five
times
over
a
10-year
span.
It
felt
foolish
to
bet
against
him,
even
though
you
knew
in
your
heart
that
it
was
a
longshot.
In
the
end,
Paul
played
fine
but
was
never
truly
in
contention.
Paul
announced
that
this
would
be
his
final
tournament
of
the
year,
no
doubt
taking
time
to
continue
healing
and
to
prepare
for
the
birth
of
his
first
child.
I
like
to
rip
on
McBeth
as
much
as
anyone,
but
it’s
hard
to
fault
him
for
that.
Well
done!

10.
Back
to
the
playoffs

“Get
your
game
on,
go
play.”

This
season
structure
is
so
bizarre.
Start
of
the
playoffs,
abysmally
attended
Silver
event,
WORLDS!!!!!,
another
thin
Silver,
and
then
back
to
the
playoffs.
Doesn’t
make
any
sense
to
me.
Oh,
well.
The
clock
is
ticking
as
players
try
to
make
a
last
push
for
the
DGPT
Championship.
Keep
an
eye
on
Lisa
Fajkus,
Sai
Ananda,
Emily
Beach,
Juliana
Korver,
and
Holly
Finley
as
they
hover
around
the
cut
line.
In
MPO,
players
like
Robert
Burridge,
Chandler
Kramer,
Paul
Ulibarri,
and
Garrett
Gurthie
will
look
for
a
big
performance
to
join
Parker
Welck
in
the
finale.
I
can’t
wait
to
see
how
it
all
plays
out
on
one
of
disc
golf’s
most
hallowed
grounds,
Maple
Hill.

Thanks
for
reading,
everyone!
Let
me
know
the
storylines
you
think
I
missed.
See
you
at
MVP
Open!

Original source