Kyle Klein led after the opening round, then Anthony Barela in round 2, then Calvin Heimburg in round 3 with Corey Ellis joining them on the lead card going into the final round. All four players were looking for their first Major title at an event that had never been won by a player without a previous Major win.
“Last time I played here was four years ago and I feel like I had a totally different game back then,” Kristin Tattar said after becoming the first European player to win the European Open. “It was one of my goals going into this season to win the European Open and I’m just super happy that I did it.”
Calvin Heimburg built a two-stroke lead on Saturday. Photo: Daniel Voss / PDGA
Calvin Heimburg made a seemingly quietly move to the chase card on Saturday at the 2023 European Open, the second PDGA Major of the year.
He wasn’t quiet on Moving Day.
Heimburg dropped a 1080-rated 12-under round to jump to a two-stroke lead heading into Championship Sunday in Nokia, Finland with 18 holes remaining on The Beast between him and his first PDGA Major title.
It was the hottest round of the day by one stroke. Estonia’s Mauri Villmann followed with an 11-under round to jump into a tie for eighth place.
Henna Blomroos is in second place. Photo: Dan Voss / PDGA
Round 3 of the 2023 European Open saw very little change to the top of the leaderboard on moving day, with the same four players remaining on top.
Kristin Tattar shot her worst round of the tournament at even par, but still tied for the hot round with Heidi Laine and Ella Hansen. While Tattar was disappointed with her performance, she still managed to extend her lead to 14 strokes over second place. Never content to rest on her laurels, Tattar seems motivated to finish out the tournament with a score that meets her standards.
The MPO field will see a completely different lead card on Saturday after a leaderboard shakeup in Round 2 of the 2023 European Open.
Anthony Barela shot the hot round at 12-under to jump up 10 places and lead the tournament at 19 strokes under par. While nowhere near as big a lead as we saw by this point last year, Barela now has a two-stroke lead over Albert Tamm and Eagle McMahon.
“I was just throwing the disc great and making all my circle 1 putts. I was pretty happy with how I threw every hole except for that bounce and rollaway on 18,” Barela said after tying the course record in Round 2.
After another scorching round on day two of the 2023 European Open, Kristin Tattar has expanded her lead even further over the rest of the FPO field.
Just like in Round 1, Tattar was the only FPO player to shoot under par, this time shooting six-under to expand her lead to 13 strokes over 2nd place. According to StatMando, this is the largest two-round Major lead since Valarie Jenkins’ 13-stroke lead in the 2015 Aussie Open and largest ever two-round lead at a European Major.
As we’ve seen through the whole 2023 season, the opening round finished with a logjam at the top of the MPO leaderboard at the 2023 European Open.
Kyle Klein currently has the solo lead at 10 strokes under par while four players are tied for second at 9-under. Defending champion Eagle McMahon and last year’s runner-up Paul McBeth are only two strokes back of the lead yet find themselves tied for sixth place. Every missed putt and OB stroke out on the Beast can feel devastating as finishing just four strokes back of the lead puts you in a four-way tie for 17th place.
The Beast showed its teeth as the FPO field played the opening round of the 2023 European Open. The new FPO layout proved challenging as the course averaged more than six strokes over par with every player taking at least two bogeys.
The difficulty of this course can cause severe score separation. Hole 11 for example, had a 23% birdie rate but still averaged 0.69 strokes over par while Holes 4, 12, and 16 saw no birdies on the day. Players are rewarded for hitting gaps in the woods and staying in bounds but any mistake can leave them scrambling back to the fairway or taking a risky shot to save the par.
The best of the best — and the strongest field in the history of the prestigious tournament — has landed in Nokia, Finland for the 2023 European Open presented by Discmania. Many of the top players from the United States traveled to Norway to join the Euro Tour for the PCS Open last week and will now have a chance at a PDGA Major title. The European Open was established in 2006 and has become the premier professional disc golf event in Europe.
Presidents Cup 2023: Team USA Seeks to Extend Dominance as Europe Aims for Upset
As the disc golf world eagerly awaits the second PDGA Pro Major of the year, the 2023 European Open in Nokia DiscGolfPark, there’s a captivating prelude that promises to set the stage for an unforgettable week of disc golf action. The prestigious Presidents Cup, a thrilling team event between the United States and Europe, will take place on Wednesday, July 19th. Disc golf enthusiasts from around the globe will witness elite players from both continents compete fiercely to determine the best team.
Qualification information for the 2023 European Open, a PDGA Major set for July 20-23 in Nokia, Finland, has been released.
New in 2023, 22 tournaments throughout Europe and the United States will serve a one of five qualification categories. Those categories also include previous winners, the top 10 MPO and top five FPO finishers from 2022 and special invitations.
