Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2019/05/08/ultiworld-disc-golf-power-rankings-pre-sfo-may-9-2019/
Photos: Alyssa Van Lanen
With the Jonesboro Open and the Glass Blown Open under our belts, it’s time for the west coast swing. Who’s trending in the right direction heading into the San Fransisco Open and the Masters Cup? Turn to the fourth edition of the 2019 Power Rankings when making your podium picks. But first some quick hits:
- No change at the top. Catrina Allen and Paul McBeth hold strong at no. 1. It should come as no surprise. Allen won the Waco Annual Charity Open and the Glass Blown Open. Those victories sandwich a second place finish at the Jonesboro Open. McBeth went and won ‘em all. Note: each of our previous three editions of the 2019 power rankings saw the pole position change.
- After her second place finish in WACO, Paige Bjerkaas finished ninth at Jonesboro and sixth at the GBO. She fell to fifth overall and made room for Paige Pierce to slide one step closer to the top spot, which is where she began the season, if you recall.
- Jessica Weese rounds out the top three after taking home fourth and fifth, respectively, at the recent biggies. Her average finish over the last two tour stops is the highest of anyone else in the field. Consistency pays off.
- Volatility in measure: nine of the top 10 women remained the same, but everyone save Catrina Allen changed positions. Pierce, Weese, Sarah Hokom (4), and Jennifer Allen (7) moved up, Bjerkaas, Vanessa Van Dyken (8), Rebecca Cox (9), and Eveliina Salonen (10) moved down. Henna Blomroos snagged the 6-spot, bumping Madison Walker to no. 11.
- Eagle McMahon (2) and Ricky Wysocki (3) stayed put, but Simon Lizotte (11) fell out of the top 10 following a seventh place finish in Jonesboro and a DNF at the GBO. Are we being too hard on a guy that came down with tonsillitis mid-tournament? He hasn’t missed the top 10 at any other event this year, after all. And he won the Newton Heck — a one-day C-tier back home in Massachusetts — by 11 strokes, averaging 1058.5-rated golf to boot.
- Calvin Heimburg moved up one spot to Lizotte’s vacated space at no. 4 and Cale Leiviska (5), Chris Dickerson (6), and Nate Sexton (7) demonstrated that touring full time is overrated. It should be noted that the Objective Metric was less friendly to the latter two than the writers. The math robot pegs Dickerson at no. 13 and Sexton at no. 14.
- We expect James Conrad (8) and Kevin Jones (9) in the top 10, which leaves touring rookie Adam Hammes (10) as the only real surprise of the bunch, but should he be? He clearly had a bit of a letdown following his come-from-behind victory over Discraft teammates Paul McBeth and Austin Hannum at the Wintertime Open when he took 57th in Vegas, but since then the worst he’s finished is 16th at the Jonesboro Open. Like Weese, it appears that his consistency is paying off.
Want to see how the voting shook out? See the complete objective and subjective voter tallies for MPO and FPO.