Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2021/06/06/portland-open-mcmahon-moves-ahead-by-two/
Eagle McMahon at the 2021 Portland Open. Photo: DGPT
Winds were swirling on the Glendoveer course Saturday for round 2 of the Portland Open but the players have started to figure out the new Portland Open course.
- Coming into the day just one stroke behind round 1 leader Ricky Wysocki, Eagle McMahon used an early six-hole birdie streak starting on hole 2 to shoot his way into first place, a spot he would hold through the end of the day by posting a hot round 8-under par effort. He’s two strokes ahead of the field at 15-under par total. McMahon was momentarily up by three strokes as the lead card made the turn onto the back 9, but a long drive into the hazard sand trap on hole 11 and missed Circle 2 par save resulted in a two-stroke swing in the rest of the lead card’s favor. Birdies on 15 and 18 helped him regain his lead. While he was 100% from Circle 1X, McMahon missed all six of his C2 putts on the back 9.
- Simon Lizotte and Ricky Wysocki are tied in second place at 13-under par and were playing with McMahon during round 2, but it was the third player in second, Kevin Jones, who did the most work on moving day by matching McMahon’s 8-under from the chase card to work his way onto a final round top billing. Jones was the only player in the top eight to go bogey-free in the tougher weather conditions, and used C2 birdies late in the round on holes 13 and 15 to earn his keep.
- Due to an early OB and double-bogey on hole 1, Lizotte was playing a bit in the shadows of the three 1050 club members he was playing with, yet four birdies on the back 9 saw him continue to hang with the leaders and keep him in podium position.
- Wysocki’s 5-under par was nothing to sneeze at and allows him to still challenge for the W. His round didn’t look dissimilar to some others that we’ve seen from him lately. Finding too many C2 looks for birdie rather than C1, and not having his long-range putter hitting. Wysocki was 1-of-8 from beyond 10 meters and had two bogeys.
- Paul McBeth again stumbled late in the round, losing two strokes on the final four holes to fall into a tie for fifth with Thomas Gilbert at 11-under par. McBeth had been within one stroke of McMahon after his birdie on hole 11, but was 1-over par over the last seven holes. He’ll be on the chase card with Gilbert, Calvin Heimburg, and Austin Hannum.
Heard
“It feels interesting because the front 9 was incredible for me — I did pretty much exactly what I needed to do — and then the back 9 felt very lackluster. For the amount of work I did in the front 9 it kind of gave me enough padding to go on cruise control. I’m not really happy with how I performed on the back, I feel like I left at least two or three strokes out there, hoping my putting is better tomorrow.” — Eagle McMahon, going back over his 8-under par round.
Statline
Thomas Gilbert was the only player in the top seven to miss a Circle 1X putt on Saturday. Gilbert two-putted on holes 3 and 18, both bogeys. Conversely, Calvin Heimburg (7th) was the only player in the same group to not make a Circle 2 putt. He was 0-for-5 and recorded pars on each of the holes.