Ricky & Eagle Steal the Show at Aussie Open's Round 2
Ricky & Eagle Steal the Show at Aussie Open's Round 2
Photo(s) by Eino Ansio of the Disc Golf World Tour.
Today could have been about how 94°F (35°C) somehow felt like a nice, cool afternoon. Today could have been about a hot round that jumped someone to the chase or lead card. But, it wasn’t. By the time the Open division lead card was halfway through Round 2 of the 2017 Aussie Open, it was clear that something incredible was in the works. Ricky Wysocki #38008 and Eagle McMahon #37817 were on a rampage.
If you were following the live scoring with no outside knowledge of the course or the conditions, you’d probably think that the top players were taking on a fairly simple layout in perfect weather. What else can you assume when you see players at 12 under par for the round through the first 13 holes?
Well, as you know already, the weather has been pretty rough. In pictures, it looks perfect and sunny, but appearances are deceiving. Round 1 saw a high temperature of 104°F (40°C) and today wasn’t much better, peaking at 95°F (35°C) with 40% humidity. With this being a PDGA Major and a Disc Golf World Tour event, it goes without saying that the course is not going to be easy.
If the course was easy, would 3rd place in Open be 10 strokes off the lead? Would 6th place be 20 strokes off the lead? No. Mundaring DiscGolfPark is a par 65, 9875 foot (3010m) monster with miles of out-of-bounds lines, tight tunnel shots, and dangerous greens that are also surrounded by OB. There’s nothing easy about it. There are only a handful of courses on the planet that would have slowed the pace of Ricky and Eagle this afternoon.
Video: Eagle McMahon plays the aggressive skip to secure his birdie putt on hole 13.
It was clear that they were feeding off each other. Neither of them wanted to be the first to lose a stroke to the other, and neither of them did for nearly two hours. After already starting at a ridiculous six under par through the first seven holes, Ricky and Eagle went birdie for birdie for the next 10 in a row. The chaos finally came to an end after Eagle chained out his birdie putt from 20 feet (6.1m) on hole 18 after watching Ricky hit his from 25 feet (7.6m).
Video: Ricky Wysocki nearly aces hole 17.
The previous course record of 52 (-13) thrown by Simon Lizotte #8332 and Paul McBeth during Round 3 of the 2015 Aussie Open was obliterated twice in the same round. Unofficially rated at 1102 and 1094, it may just be the two highest ratings ever thrown during a single round in a PDGA Major.
The round was full of highlights, many of which can be seen in the live scoring application on the Disc Golf World Tour’s website, including Paul McBeth’s eagle on the 1230 foot (375m) par 5 hole 16 with two air shots and a 40 foot (12m) putt.
Video: Paul McBeth’s hits an Eagle on the 375-meter Par 5 hole 16.
Heading into Round 3, Eagle still leads the pack, three ahead of Ricky and now 10 ahead of Paul, with Japan’s Manabu Kajiyama #8931 rounding out the lead card, 13 off the lead.
Paige Pierce On Pace For USDGC Qualifying Spot
The Open Women’s division saw little to no movement in the rankings outside of a switch in places between Kristina Bair #81983 and Germany’s Christine Hellstern #3722 in which Christine moved into 5th and Kristina dropped to 6th. Paige Pierce #29190 began the day with a lead of six and after a strong finish that included three birdies in the last four holes, her lead has now doubled to 12.
Slow-mo backhand Drive by Paige Pierce on the 400' hole 9. She went a good 50' past the basket. #AussieOpen pic.twitter.com/yIoxTGpWao
— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) January 27, 2017
Paige Pierce throws past the basket on a 400' (119m) par 3.
The 2017 Aussie Open is the first USDGC qualifier of the year, with 10 spots up for grabs. Spots are awarded to the 10 best overall scores at the end of the tournament, regardless of division, as all divisions are playing the same layout. With two rounds to go, Paige is currently sitting in a tie for the 9th best overall score with Finalnd’s Luukas Rokkanen #64917. Her first round of three under par (62), unofficially rated at 1003, and her second round of one under par (64), unofficially rated at 981, have put her in contention. We wish her the best of luck as she continues down a path towards something only a few women have ever done; qualify for the USDGC based on overall score at a qualifying event.
The real battle in the Open Women’s division at this point is for 2nd place. Three women are all within striking range of each other, and, with 36 more holes left to play, anything can happen. Madison Walker #59431, Jennifer Allen #15354, and Des Reading #15863 all finished with the same score of five over par (70) this afternoon, with only four strokes separating Madison’s 2nd place position from Des’s 4th.
Coming off an impressive 2016 in which she finished 2nd overall in the PDGA National Tour points, Madison continues to improve at a rapid pace. Known as a predominantly forehand player both off the tee and in the fairway, watching her crush backhand drives has been a well-received surprise both by her fans and fellow competitors alike.
Madison is throwing a lot more backhand shots these days. And it's working. #AussieOpen pic.twitter.com/EnIbX4U8tq
— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) January 27, 2017
Madison Walker throwing yet another backhand on the course, this time on hole 7.