Top Pros This Year

[DamonRipper]

Paul Uli. Another dark horse.

He is a good dark horse pick. I was watching the Utah Open (CCDG shout-out) the other day and he can really pull off some amazing shots. He was experimenting with hyzer putting style and missed a bunch of putts. The quality of his tee shots was crazy good though, throwing over 500' with accuracy ... one hole was 547' I believe and he parked it but missed the putt. If he gets the putting sorted, I think he could run with the big dogs.

 

[drew2000]

Obviously, McBeth and Ricky will be there. They're the top 2 players in the sport without question imo, and we'll call that the 1a tier. I believe that the 1b tier is headlined by Eagle, Jerm, Sexton, Nikko, Uli, and Philo. Then you have the question marks - Simon and Feldburg because of their injuries, and Schusterick just because he used to be the #1 player in the world, and has all his accolades, but has seemingly fallen off. Looking at the PDGA ratings standings, you can't forget about players like Cale, Cam Colglazier (just look back at worlds), Matt Orum, Chris Dickerson, Nate Doss, Steve Rico, Bobby Musick, Alex Geisinger, Devan Owens, Drew Gibson and Peter McBride. They're all rated 1016-1030 or higher. Which isn't the level of McBeth and Wysocki, but is still pretty dang good. It'll also be interesting to see when Bradley Williams comes back, will he still be as sharp as he was this past year up until the incident. He's still rated 1026 which is in the top 15 in the world

 

[ThrowBot]

Something I've been thinking about McBeth, in relation to how things work in the professional skateboarding world.

There's generally two kinds of pros in the skate world (with some overlap), the contest pro and the video pro.
[...]

Interesting analogy. I never thought of it that way, but I see the parallel.

In that context, I think of Simon as a video pro. Not that he doesn't have the potential to crush some tournaments, but just that I first started to appreciate him from the trickshot videos.

I'd be interested to see more of a "video pro" culture grow in disc golf. When I'm looking to watch random dg videos, I only want to watch tourney rounds of players I already know something about, but I'll watch a trick shot video of anyone.

(Cards on the table: I do prefer watching edited snowboard videos more than competitions.)

I have to wonder if he over does it on practice rounds. 7 for the AO, in that heat, first event of the year, seems like a lot. I'm pretty sure I heard mentions of him playing 10+ practice rounds before tournaments last year. Plus not being able to find vegan foods left him weak according to some vlogs.

Practice rounds themselves shouldn't be a problem, but rest is important also.

When it comes to nutrition, seems like a learning experience for Eagle. Might have to plan ahead if the local culture doesn't easily support your dietary restrictions. I'd be surprised if this is ever a problem going forward.

 

[lyleoross]

Interesting analogy. I never thought of it that way, but I see the parallel.

In that context, I think of Simon as a video pro. Not that he doesn't have the potential to crush some tournaments, but just that I first started to appreciate him from the trickshot videos.

I'd be interested to see more of a "video pro" culture grow in disc golf. When I'm looking to watch random dg videos, I only want to watch tourney rounds of players I already know something about, but I'll watch a trick shot video of anyone.

(Cards on the table: I do prefer watching edited snowboard videos more than competitions.)



Practice rounds themselves shouldn't be a problem, but rest is important also.

When it comes to nutrition, seems like a learning experience for Eagle. Might have to plan ahead if the local culture doesn't easily support your dietary restrictions. I'd be surprised if this is ever a problem going forward.

Macadamia nuts. High in protein and fats, and native to Australia. Just sayin'.

 

[DriveCrusher2]

It seemed to me that Simon was sort of playing around, having fun. In general, a great approach to life! But he never really had the focus you need to beat Paul at the end. That could just be me, though. Sometimes life checks, like a torn ligament, are what it takes to get you on target. I'm dying of curiosity to see what he does and if his game changes.

I missed Jerm, but someone did bring him up. Not sure about McCabe. I like him, but there is just so much at the top now unless you're doing it full time it's gonna be hard. We should get a feel at GBO, I'm thinking.

I agree with Lizotte, someone that just likes to play the game, I picked McCabe just because there is always that random player that hasn't been in the highlights much that happens to show up out of nowhere on the lead card at the USDGCs, hence John E. McCray two years ago

 

[ThrowBot]

Macadamia nuts. High in protein and fats, and native to Australia. Just sayin'.

Yeah for sure. I'm not saying there aren't options. It just might take some prior thought and legwork to get food lined up, and if you didn't plan for that going in it might cause problems.

 

[wims]

Simon was pretty much the top player when he got injured. It will be interesting to see how well he's able to come back. There's no guarantee that he'll be able to reach that level again, I don't think he have ever gone this long without throwing a disc

 

[lyleoross]

Just a note. Everyone knows this, but to win you have to hit those putts. At AO, Ricky was still hitting his putts. If someone wants to beat him that is a given. Paul was less than perfect and if he doesn't sort that, it won't be him. Curious to see Simon putt.

 

[Lazerface]

Eagle admitted his nerves got the best of him on 18, he just got caught up in the moment.

^This. Of course it was nerves. I can only imagine how much pressure he was feeling. Everyone has to go through this. The ice in the veins thing is usually developed by more exposure to these situations. Take the nerves away and Eagle could empty his bag on that hold without a single shot going OB.

 

[Lazerface]

I want to see Nikko get to the Ricky/Paul level of putting so bad. I'm super pumped to see Simon come back. I feel like Cam Colglazier(sp?) could pull some big wins if he plays all the major stuff. He is really good.

Chris Dickerson from TN seems to be pretty dominant in that region and I would like to see him play all the major stuff out on tour.

 

[DiscinFiend]

I bet Big Jerm gets some big wins this year. I hope he plays better in Worlds this year compared to 2016.

 

[Consult20]

Simon was pretty much the top player when he got injured. It will be interesting to see how well he's able to come back. There's no guarantee that he'll be able to reach that level again, I don't think he have ever gone this long without throwing a disc

Simon's latest Instagram post, in case you missed it -- priceless!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQDvxIyFQWA/?taken-by=simon_lizotte&hl=en

 

[jeffsk]

Thanks to CCDG vid footage of the kid, I am all in on Peter Mcbride for the foreseeable future. Huge wins, maybe not yet...appearance on multiple big tourney lead cards, I think he is right there in the discussion this year.

I simply can't find a deficiency in his game and feel like he is a standout in an area few others are...that middle distance approach/upshot area, just so good there. Is it as flashy as a big drive or a 60 ft putt, nope. But does his efficiency in that range negate the need for those other attributes on a regular basis, maybe.

There's a reason Tim Duncan won 5 titles and Tony Gwynn was a consistently troublesome out for almost 20 years...fundamentals over flash any day, and that McBride kid has it.

 

[jeffsk]

Also, not sure who it was that mentioned McCabe but I would like to second that dark horse vote. In 13 years the dude hasn't dipped below a 1000 rating and in that period looking at about a +/- 11 Pt deviation from center...model of consistency there in my opinion. Would be nice to see him get one more big win this year.

 

[biscoe]

model of consistency at 3 strokes per round below the best- unlikely.

 

[jeffsk]

model of consistency at 3 strokes per round below the best- unlikely.

To sustain for 13 years still seems "consistent" to me. No, not consistently "the best", there's no argument from me there at all. Perhaps "consistent" (not always, but still consistent) top 10-20 finishes over the course of 13 years doesn't impress you. I on the other hand find that to be a fairly great standard of success and something that I think many would be happy to achieve in their career.

Then again, growing up when my friends were spending their allowance on Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire cards, I was the fool snatching up Mike Schmidt and Ozzie Smith, so perhaps there is something flawed in my idea that sustainability + fundamentally sound + diversity of skill sets= model of greatness.

 

[ejvogie]

Those cards are all worth about a nickel apiece now

 

[biscoe]

To sustain for 13 years still seems "consistent" to me. No, not consistently "the best", there's no argument from me there at all. Perhaps "consistent" (not always, but still consistent) top 10-20 finishes over the course of 13 years doesn't impress you. I on the other hand find that to be a fairly great standard of success and something that I think many would be happy to achieve in their career.

Then again, growing up when my friends were spending their allowance on Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire cards, I was the fool snatching up Mike Schmidt and Ozzie Smith, so perhaps there is something flawed in my idea that sustainability + fundamentally sound + diversity of skill sets= model of greatness.

No question at all that McCabe is a great player and by all accounts a great guy as well. I was merely pointing out it is unlikely he will win another "big" one at this point. Someone with a similar rating but a larger standard deviation would have a better chance.

 

[DG_Before_Breakfast]

Simon's latest Instagram post, in case you missed it -- priceless!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQDvxIyFQWA/?taken-by=simon_lizotte&hl=en

That was kind of creepy, asking a little kid if he is a virgin. I like how Simon raises his brow at that. Looks like he is having fun and really proud of that shot.

 

[jeffsk]

^^I completely misread your post and by the time I realized it, too late and I can never find an edit button when I need it. Sorry about that.