The first-ever Worlds outside of North America.
July 30, 2025 by Justin Westfall in Preview
The most anticipated disc golf event of the year — and perhaps the sport’s history — has arrived at last. The 2025 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships begin today in Tampere and Nokia, Finland. It has been a long road to host this event outside of North America for the first time. Nearly 7,000 days have passed since the first European Open was held in 2006. With the uncertain future of the Beast course in Nokia due to a construction project in the park that will eliminate hole 18, it’s fitting that this iconic track could be featured one last time for the most prestigious event in disc golf.
The European Open welcomes thousands of spectators each year, with the Beast typically hosting the most spectators of any disc golf venue. Now hosting the World Championships, the tournament could see as many as 10,000 in attendance for the final round on Sunday. Perhaps more importantly, the Disc Golf Network has partnered with Yle, Finland’s public broadcasting and news source, to air live coverage of all five rounds. Yle reaches 60% of all Finns on a weekly basis, and 97% of the population on a yearly basis. The tournament will also be broadcast on Yle Areena, the network’s online streaming service, which is accessed over 20 million times per week.
Last year, Isaac Robinson became just the 5th MPO player in PDGA history to win back-to-back World Championships. After tying for the hot round to start the tournament, Robinson led by three or found strokes following every round, including a four-stroke win over Niklas Anttila. In FPO, Holyn Handley held a three-stroke lead on the field following the opening two rounds. In round 3, Eveliina Salonen was able to tie Handley at the top, and trailed by just one-stroke going into the final round. While Salonen played just an average round, Handley shot 8-over par, including a six hole stretch on the back nine shooting nine-over par. Salonen was able to hold off the field, winning her first World Championship.
Past Winners
| Year | Open | Open Women |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Isaac Robinson | Eveliina Salonen |
| 2023 | Isaac Robinson | Kristin Tattar |
| 2022 | Paul McBeth | Kristin Tattar |
| 2021 | James Conrad | Catrina Allen |
| 2020 | n/a | n/a |
| 2019 | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce |
| 2018 | Gregg Barsby | Paige Bjerkaas (Shue) |
| 2017 | Ricky Wysocki | Paige Pierce |
| 2016 | Ricky Wysocki | Valarie Jenkins |
| 2015 | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce |
| 2014 | Paul McBeth | Catrina Allen |
| 2013 | Paul McBeth | Paige Pierce |
| 2012 | Paul McBeth | Sarah Hokom |
| 2011 | Nate Doss | Paige Pierce |
| 2010 | Eric McCabe | Sarah Stanhope |
| 2009 | Avery Jenkins | Valarie Jenkins |
| 2008 | Dave Feldberg | Valarie Jenkins |
| 2007 | Nate Doss | Valarie Jenkins |
| 2006 | Ken Climo | Des Reading |
| 2005 | Nate Doss | Des Reading |
| 2004 | Barry Schultz | Birgitta Lagerholm |
Eight Things We’ll Be Watching
1. Following a bit of a slump over the past couple of months, Paul McBeth bounced back in a major way two weeks ago at the European Disc Golf Festival. The 17-time major champion is still searching for his first win since the 2023 PCS Open, and his first major win since the 2022 World Championships. A win this week would tie McBeth with Ken Climo for the most majors in PDGA history. It’s easy to forget that until 2023, McBeth finished 1st or 2nd at the World Championships for 10 consecutive years. There’s no question Paul has returned to form this year, though he’s still searching for a win. Given his winning history in Finland and the level of play he displayed at the EDGF, McBeth could be primed to further cement his legacy with a 7th World title.
2. Kristin Lätt has been the favorite to win nearly every event since the 2022 season, but that may no longer be the case. The Estonian squandered a three-stroke lead in the final round of the EDGF, and severe putting woes continue to plague her. Lätt is a seven-time major champion and could move into solo 3rd all-time for FPO major wins this weekend. She would also tie Des Reading with three world titles, moving within two of the FPO record. Kristin has not won an event with a full field since the beginning of April, and she is averaging under a 990 rating since then. She will need to clean up the putting and mental lapses in order to continue her streak of three consecutive years with at least one major win.
3. Two weeks ago was the first time we’ve ever seen Isaac Robinson relinquish a lead at a major. The back-to-back reigning world champion and four-time major winner somehow manages to save his best disc golf for the biggest events. Robinson has played the European Open twice, finishing in 4th and averaging a 1050 event rating last year. Over the past couple of years, Isaac has given us every reason to believe that he will be rock solid this week and be in contention for the win right out of the gate. A win would tie him with Barry Schultz for the 5th most major wins of all-time, and tie him with Nate Doss for the third most World titles, behind just Ken Climo and Paul McBeth. Robinson would also join Climo and McBeth as the only players to win three consecutive World Championships. Simply put, a win would not just cement Robinson as a Hall of Famer, but an all-time great in the sport.
4. Reigning FPO World Champion Eveliina Salonen is coming off one of her worst performances of the year at the EDGF. While the Finn was just one-stroke back following round two, a poor third round sent her well down the leaderboard and out of contention. Now, Salonen will play in front of a home crowd, concluding on a course that will require her to vanquish some demons. Eveliina held a lead going into the final round of the 2022 and 2024 European Open, but was unable to withstand the pressure in both instances. A win would immediately catapult Salonen to the front of the Player of the Year race, earning her fifth career major title and fourth since the start of 2024.
5. It’s officially been over one year since Ricky Wysocki’s last elite or major win. Now, Wysocki returns to a venue he has been the runner-up on three times, including one of his most disappointing losses of the 2024 season. A win for Wysocki would tie him with David Feldberg for the third most major wins all-time at seven. Ricky has taken much criticism for failing to win a major since the 2017 World Championships. The stats don’t back up the narrative that Ricky has underperformed in these majors. Since 2018, he has averaged a better finish and a slightly higher rating at majors compared to elite series events. And yet the lack of a win over that span is glaring. If Wysocki wants to squash that narrative, he’ll need to find a way to get the job done this week.
6. Just two months ago, Silva Saarinen had yet to win an elite series event with Kristin Lätt in the field, and had continually come up short when given the opportunity. Now, Saarinen has two elite wins on the season and just won her first career major, closing a three-stroke deficit to Lätt in the final round. What’s next for Saarinen is a shot at her first career World title, in her home country. Like Eveliina, Silva had a chance to win the European Open last season, but failed to close out the event. While Silva has seemingly found a way to calm the nerves coming down the stretch, this week will provide the highest stakes of her young career.
7. As a three-time major champion, Gannon Buhr has built quite the resume at the age of 20. For the reigning European Open champion, winning a World title is now his primary focus. Buhr obviously has all of the tools to get the job done this week, it will simply be a matter of execution. Having come up one-stroke short at the EDGF, Buhr may even have a little extra incentive to get the job done. Meanwhile for Calvin Heimburg, getting the monkey off his back and finally winning a major in Tallinn could free him up to chase the World title. Vinny gave up a final round lead at the 2023 European Open and has been on several final day lead cards at Worlds. Two weeks ago, Calvin had no wins, and by his standard was having a down season. To think he could suddenly be a two-time major champion, world champion, and likely front runner for Player of the Year by Sunday shows just how quickly things can change in this sport.
8. After a win at the Krokhol Open, Holyn Handley had a disappointing opening round at the EDGF, falling 11 strokes off the pace. Handley battled back and finished in 5th, maintaining her streak of all top-5 finishes on the season. She actually led the tournament in birdies, carding two more than Kristin Lätt and five more than winner Silva Saarinen. Being Holyn’s first trip to Europe, she will be playing the Monster and the Beast for the first time. Handley should fare well on these courses, as she chases her first career major title. It’s very likely the eventual FPO Player of the Year will be determined by this event, and it’s hard to argue that Handley wouldn’t move to the top of that list with a win.
The Courses
The Monster, located at the Tampere Disc Golf Center, is a championship design that combines holes from the course’s standard 27-hole layout. Designed in 2018 by Jussi Meresmaa and Tommi Vesala, the lengthy track features very tight fairways and tricky greens. The track is aptly named, with six-under par rounds on the MPO layout coming in at a 1050 rating during last year’s European Open. The course underwent some additional manicuring including grandstands on the 18th hole in preparation for the world stage.
Also designed by Jussi Meresmaa, the Beast in Nokia is a crown jewel in the sport of disc golf. With a mix of tight woods, open holes, water hazards and plenty of OB, the Beast requires a healthy variety of shot types. While a few small tweaks have been made for this year’s event there is one major change to the course’s most infamous hole. As a result of pressure from the PDGA, the former BUNCR rule on hole 16 was eliminated in 2024, and instead played with standard OB rules featuring two drop zones. This year, the drop zones have been removed, and the green will play with standard island rules. The par has also been increased from 4 to 5 in the FPO division.
The Monster
2025 MPO: 3,302 Meters/10,833 Feet Par 67
2024 MPO: 3,280 Meters/10,760 Feet Par 67
2025 FPO: 2,876 Meters/9,436 Feet Par 68
2024 FPO: 2,876 Meters/9,436 Feet Par 68
The Beast
2025 MPO: 2,817 Meters/9,242 Feet Par 63
2024 MPO: 2,794 Meters/9,167 Feet Par 63
2025 FPO: 2,677 Meters/8,783 Feet Par 66
2024 FPO: 2,704 Meters/8,871 Feet Par 65
Extended Forecast
Winds should remain low, but there is a possibility of thunderstorms throughout the week. Hopefully those stay clear, otherwise weather delays will be likely.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy with highs in the low 80s. Winds 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday: Partly cloudy with a possible thunderstorm, highs in the low 80s. Winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Friday: Scattered thunderstorms with highs in the mid 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Saturday: Scattered thunderstorms with highs in the mid 70s. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Sunday: Scattered thunderstorms with highs in the mid 70s. Winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
