Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2022/05/12/ultiworld-disc-golf-mpo-power-rankings-pre-west-coast-swing-edition-may-11-2022/
That was an exhilarating but brutal stretch of events from the Champions Cup to the DDO: eleven tournament rounds in eighteen days! I’m sure the players are thankful for some time to collect themselves and rest their bodies before we begin the West Coast swing. Everyone needs a little break once in a while, right?
This season has been absolute mayhem in the MPO division. It seems like we have seen more variety on our lead and chase cards this season than in any season previously. Part of that is due to injuries and inconsistent play from some of the top names, part of that is due to the fact that we have seen greater variety of courses at this point of the season than we usually see, and part of that is because the field is deep and extremely talented. Top ten finishes are guaranteed for no one.
In years past, heading out west featured time in the woods and hills at Beaver State and DeLa. And it still does, just as stops on the Silver Series. The big show, however, heads to courses where the big arms get a chance to show off at the OTB and Portland Opens.
Methodology: We combine an algorithmic objective ranking with subjective ballots submitted by UWDG staff. The algorithm uses a standardized scoring model to compare elite events, awards competition, and cash bonuses, and features a decay function that gradually phases out past results.
Read notes and stats on the top 10 and others in the field with an Ultiworld Disc Golf subscription.
Notes on the Top 10
The ‘recent unweighted’ category below includes the last 14 rounds from Elite Series, cumulative stroke play tournaments in 2022: Dynamic Discs Open, Jonesboro Open, Champions Cup, Texas State Disc Golf Championship.
[table id=239 /]
Field Notes
Kyle Klein (#14) is slowly working his way back up the board. Based on his 2021 campaign, everyone, Discmania included, expecting big things from Klein this year. So far he has struggled to recapture the quality of play we saw last year, but 13th at DDO and an A-tier win at the 303 Open (including a 1084-rated first round) is a move in the right direction.
Aaron Gossage (#16) has been in the top 25 all season, so we should probably give him some ink. This year he has two top ten finishes, including a third place finish at the DDO: his first career podium at an Elite Series tournament. While none of his stats are going to blow your hair back, he clearly has the ability to compete with the best. Gossage has been very consistent on the Silver Series, but it’s been feast or famine at the full-fledged DGPT stops.
No one can deny that Brodie Smith’s (#18) play at DDO was excellent and required a level of mental toughness that many of his competitors seemed to lack. Will this be a turning point for Smith? Coming off a 51st place showing at the Champions Cup, his second worst result this year, he notched his best finishes back-to-back in Jonesboro (25th) and DDO (3rd). Either way, his DDO play was good enough to get him some shine here.