The 2021 Professional Disc Golf World Championships gets rolling today in Ogden, Utah. While crowing a world champ always carries a lot of weight, this year in particular has a lot riding on the men’s pro open (MPO) division. Who will come out on top in Utah? Which legacies will be impacted the most? I’d like to take a quick look at the landscape leading into the tournament and the three competitors that, in my opinion, have the best shot at securing the win.
As parts of the world slowly turn toward normalcy after bearing through a year plus of a pandemic, 2021 brings a return of the disc golf World Championships, held yearly since 1982 until last year when Covid-19 threw a wrench into the plans for the tournament in Ogden, Utah. But the effects of the pandemic weren’t all negative when it came to disc golf. Creating a need to find activities that allowed for social distancing, the indirect effects resulted in a massive spike in popularity of the sport. For most fans, Youtube has been the place to catch tournament coverage over the years on channels like Jomez Pro and Central Coast. Now, fans have the Disc Golf Network but one of the things adding hype to this year’s Worlds is that two different tournaments made network television, on CBS Sports Network and ESPN 2 respectively. This increased level of interest in both breadth of ways to view disc golf content and total numbers of players in the sport, the one year break creating a pent up energy to find the next champion, and what this year’s title could mean for legacy all add up to bring a lot of excitement when players tee of on Tuesday June 22nd.
The first name that you have to bring up while discussing the men’s field in disc golf right now has to be Paul McBeth. He is the best player in the game and the newly minted ten million dollar man. He’s been making big moves on the course and off, garnering a Discraft sponsorship the likes of which the sport has never seen. He’s already second all time in total MPO titles with five and would likely have been the favorite to pull off another win in 2020 if the event had been held. Since his first Worlds win in 2012, his finishes are more than impressive, finishing first, first, first, first, second, second, second, and then first again in Peoria in 2019. In 2015, he took down every major of the year to complete the Grand Slam. This is the greatness that has come to be known as McBeast mode, often the name given for McBeth’s obsessive focus that has helped him demoralize opponents with his skill. After losing the chance to add to that total of six in his pursuit to catch Ken Climo’s 12 wins, McBeth has to be itching to get out there and prove once again that he’s the best in the game.
While the past decade or so has belonged to one man, there has been consistently one competitor who has pushed McBeth the most, Ricky Wysocki. Twenty years from now, I expect to be watching a 30 for 30 style documentary about the story of Paul and Ricky. Their rivalry is the most enduring storyline of the 2010s. Entering the tournament on the men’s side, the two represent the only multiple time winners of the event. Ricky is coming in hot, having torn up Texas early in the season and ending up in second place behind Emerson Keith at the most recent even held at the Fort, one of the courses in Ogden that will make up this Worlds. Remember McBeth finishing second in every year he didn’t win? Wysocki was runner up in four of McBeth’s five title runs. He’s the only other competitor to prove he can lean on his mental toughness along with his physical gifts over and over again. Wysocki is already among only six MPO players to win multiple championships, another win for Ricky puts him ahead of Harold Duvall and in a tie with Nate Doss for third most wins all-time. It would also pull him again to within two of McBeth and only add heat to the sports best rivalry.
As has been the case for many, many major championships over the years since the Paul and Ricky show began, there isn’t one clear cut third favorite. My third challenger for taking home the win in Utah this year is the field. Unlike some previous contests though, the field isn’t some risky bet. Many people could make arguments that players like Eagle McMahon, Kevin Jones, or Calvin Heimburg could easily even be considered favorites. That’s without even mentioning Emerson Keith, the player who just beat out Ricky in Utah or James Conrad who tied Keith for third in the last Worlds in Peoria in 2019. Of the players I’ve mentioned here, I would think Eagle would have to be the favorite after a huge win in Portland, even holding off a late charging McBeth. Eagle currently sits second in PDGA ratings behind only Wysocki and is at the top of the newly released Udisc World Rankings. A win by someone in this group solidifies the thinking that parity is coming to disc golf and that the pack is catching up to the top two.
Who do I think will come out on top? I have to go with McBeth. Even though he may not look as dominant as in year’s past, I have to go with the guy who’s showed up time and time again on the game’s biggest stage. I for one am excited to see how it plays out. Below are my Grip6 fantasy picks for Utah. I went pretty much chalk with it, who would you swap in if you were picking?
Junction Point 