Thirteen players shot double digits under par today. However, the story starts with three players who shot -11 down today: Paul McBeth, Scott Withers, and Philo Brathwaite. While there were a few others who shot -11, these three players shot -11 and only moved up two spots, Scott to fourth and Paul and Philo into a tie for fifth. Philo started the day -8 through 8 and then would bogey 11 and 12 en route to his -11. Had he avoided those two bogeys he would be looking at a spot on the lead card for the final round. Paul and Scott both went bogey-free and will be looking to maintain the pace tomorrow in hopes of moving up.
Grady Shue and JohnE McCray both carded -12 today to move up 23 and 17 spots respectively. Grady Shue carded a bogey on the second shortest hole on the course, the par three hole five. There were four holes that Grady took a par on today, three of the four holes he went OB on. He was that close to going -16 today. JohnE McCray has shot consecutive great rounds after a tough first round on the live card. He carded no bogeys and only one OB stroke while putting together his 1083 rated round.
On the lead card, there was a battle between Simon Lizotte, Eagle McMahon, and Jalle Stoor. While Simon came into the day with the lead, Eagle and Jalle were determined not to let that affect them. Jalle started the day -8 through 8 and then went par-birdie-par all the way to hole 15. He finished the day 100% inside C1 and scrambling. With only 40% of his circle two putts landing Jalle could make up three throws if he nailed all of them today. He finished the day -13. Eagle also went -13 with 100% inside C1 and scrambling. Eagle was slightly better with his C2 putting at 50%. Eagle was able to capitalize on Simon’s misstep on hole 16 and finished the day with a sizeable lead, three ahead of Simon.
Going into today, the story was Simon Lizotte. The reigning Memorial Champion, it looked like Simon was going to go wire-to-wire to win. However, Simon got off to a slow start only birdieing five on the front nine and carding a bogey on hole six. On hole 11 when Simon carded a par, Eagle tied him with a birdie. On hole 13 when Simon landed another par, Eagle took the lead with a birdie. Simon’s struggles continued on hole 16 where he went OB and ended up with a double-bogey. This resulted with the tournament leader going from leading the field by two at the beginning of the day to sitting solidly in second place by the end of the round.
Tomorrow is shaping up for an exciting finish to the first stop on the Disc Golf Pro Tour. Make sure you are ready to tune in for the MPO live coverage starting at 4:45 PM ET from the Vista Del Camino course at The Memorial Championship presented by Discraft.
