Final Round Recap
May 1, 2021 by Bennett Wineka in Recap with 0 comments
With the trio of Eagle McMahon, Calvin Heimburg, and Paul McBeth tied for first heading into the final round, and two-time world champ Ricky Wysocki only a stick behind, the second PDGA National Tour event of 2021 was up for grabs on Saturday at the Dynamic Discs Open.
Through nine holes, it looked like Heimburg was going to be the player the rest of the 1050 crew would be chasing. Heimburg was bogey-free through 10 holes and hit 10 consecutive Circle 1X putts to start the round. Only Paul McBeth looked up for the challenge as he opened his day with four straight birdies, including a 60-footer on hole 1, but even he lost three strokes to Heimburg with a par and bogey on holes 5 and 6, respectively.
As the lead card made the turn, however, things shifted. Heimburg went par-par on holes 9 and 10 to McBeth’s birdie-birdie. Gusty winds north of 30 mph were causing problems — McBeth missed a 15-footer for birdie on hole 8 — and Heimburg and McBeth were tied for the lead on the tee of hole 11, five strokes ahead of Wysocki and McMahon tied in third.
Heimburg took a direct line to 11’s basket, as he is wont to do, but hit the sidewalk short of the pin, skipping OB and never crossing inbounds within par-saving distance. He’d have to take his approach from midway down the fairway and pitch up for bogey. Despite McBeth missing an edge of circle putt for birdie, the par gave him a one stroke lead he would not give up.
“I feel like I’m too nice out there sometimes,” said McBeth after the round. “I need to go out there and attack, especially in a situation where there is a threeway tie. I had to go out there and tell myself I’m not here for the friendships.”
McBeth wouldn’t miss a putt again, and even though he ran and missed the island on hole 16, no other player on the lead card was able to stick the green either. Heimburg was 4-over par over the final eight holes to McBeth’s 3-under. McBeth would win the event, his fifth Elite Series win in Emporia, by six strokes at 42-under par total after a 9-under final, which was tied with Nolan Ramser for the hot round of the day.
McBeth was second in the event in finding both C1 and C2 in regulation, and led the division in parked shots. He was also second in both strokes gained from tee-to-green and strokes gained putting.
Heimburg dropped into a tie for fourth with Chris Dickerson at 35-under par after a 2-under par final round and a rough right side spit-out for bogey on hole 18. Heimburg has yet to finish below fifth in seven events in 2021. Wysocki, playing after the death of his sister earlier this week, and McMahon tied for second place at 36-under par total.
