Nikko Locastro torched the back nine to build a one-stroke lead. Photo: Hayden Henry / PDGA

WACO, Texas — Playing confident and sticking to the plan were crucial in the wind in Waco.

It paid off for both of the tournament leaders leaders during the second round of the Disc Golf Pro Tour - Waco Annual Charity Open on Saturday at Brazos East Park.

Nikko Locastro stormed the back nine of the Beast as windy conditions played a big factor for the second-straight day at the second stop of the 2021 PDGA Elite Series. Kona Panis, coming off a strong opening round, matched that performance to build a commanding lead.

"I'm feeling confident and I'm feeling like I'm in a good mindset," Locastro told the Disc Golf Network following his 54 on Saturday. "Similar game plan (for Sunday). I felt focused today. It feels good to be here."

After sharing and exchanging the lead with Gavin Rathbun and Bradley Wiliams, Locastro carded seven birdies on the back nine around his lone bogey on Hole 15. He sits at 18-under heading into Sunday's finale, one ahead of Rathbun and Williams. Rathbun remains bogey-free in Waco after finishing 6-under on Saturday. His 11-under opening round remains the hot score of the weekend.

The second-hottest round of the event belongs to Cale Leiviska, who fired off a 10-under 53 on Saturday to surge up the leaderboard.

"Pretty much everything was working today," Leiviska said. "It was definitely a bit windier than yesterday, which I didn't think was possible becuase it was breezy. Shooting double digits wasn't something that was on my mind, I wanted to keep it tame on the open holes and attack in the woods when the wind is down. I had a few tweaks today but in these conditions, it's not about a number, it's about managing."

Cale Leiviska turned in the hot round on Saturday to leap 23 spots to the lead card. Photo: Hayden Henry / PDGA

Leiviska, who finished third in the shortened 2020 version of WACO in third place, managed quite well. After grabbing birdies on the first two holes, Leiviska biridied seven of the nine wooded holes. Saturday was one year to the day of the third and final round of WACO being canceled as the COVID-19 pandemic started to show its teeth.

Ricky Wysocki joins Leiviska at 14-under par on the event and will lead the chase card. Wysocki was 7-under through 11 holes before back-to-back bogies on the 14th and 15th.

He'll be joined by Calvin Heimburg, who hit 13-under overall with the only birdie through two rounds on the treacherous 18th. Raven Newsom and Gannon Buhr, a 15-year-old Iowa native who burst onto Saturday's lead card, round out the chase card.

15-year-old Gannon Buhr will be on Sunday's chase card. Photo: Hayden Henry / PDGA

For Panis, shaking off a double-bogey start was crucial and she did just that. She bounced back with a birdie on the second, sparking an 8-under run through Hole 15. After a bogey on 17, she carded one of just six birdies on Hole 18 for her second-straight 6-under round.

Panis gained 5.46 strokes on the field from tee->green and 5.48 strokes from putting, according to UDisc.

"Pretty amazing, pretty stellar," Panis told DGN. "I just didn't make any huge mistakes. The wind was different on Hole 1 today. I was nervous, a little shaky and it took until Hole 3 to chill myself out and play."

Her lead is 10 strokes.

The rest of the FPO field was a rollercoaster throughout the day as the wind whipped start to finish. Panis will be joined by three new faces on the lead card on Sunday.

Madison Walker sits in second place entering Sunday. Photo: Hayden Henry / PDGA

Madison Walker turned in a 3-under round and is in second place at 2-under par. Lisa Fajkus and Missy Gannon round out Sunday's lead card at even par. They're joined by Catrina Allen at even but Gannon's round of 68 gives her the bump to the lead card.

Nine players sit between even and plus-5.

"Playing safe, not doing anything crazy," Panis said of her Sunday plans. "Today, I went for some bigger putts and left myself some testers. I'm just going to try to keep it in the fairway and manage."

Coverage will begin on the Disc Golf Network at 1:30 pm CT with the men’s lead card teeing at 1:50 p.m. CT and the women’s lead card teeing at 3:30 p.m. CT. Live scoring and stats are available via UDisc Live.