Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2021/05/23/uswdgc-hot-putters-set-up-pierce-king-final-round-duel/
Photo: PDGA
Compared to Auburn Regional Park, Shady Oaks was a bit more clear in the fairways and allowed the Open Women’s division to attack the pin in round 2 of the United States Women’s Disc Golf Championship. Two players at the top took full advantage and pulled away from the field to set-up a final round duel.
- Day one leader Paige Pierce came out on Saturday and threw a 1016-rated 8-under par round and still lost ground to one of the players tied in second place. Hailey King followed Pierce’s pace early and surpassed it through the middle section of round 2, shooting a 1038-rated, 10-under par hot round, the highest-rated round in USWDGC history. Pierce remains in first place at 14-unde par total, but her four-stroke lead has shrunk to two with King at 12-under par total. King is eight clear of third place.
- King and Pierce both ate up the fairways at Shady Oaks — tied for 67% fairway hits and 67% C2 in regulation — but did the real damage around the greens. Pierce has yet to miss from inside Circle 1x, and King did the same on Saturday going 9-for-9 from 10 meters and in. Pierce had picked up another stroke on the lead on hole 3 with a 38-footer, yet King was not deterred and evened the score back up for the day and gained a stroke on hole 7 with a 60-footer for birdie. Pierce could have lost another stroke to King on 7 except she drilled a tester from C2 to save par, calling the make while the disc was still in flight. The two were pretty even through the turn, and King got the second stroke back on Pierce by parking hole 18 for a tap-in birdie.
- Kona Panis, Madison Walker, and Holly Finley were tied with King but all dropped two spots on the leaderboard by shooting 1-under pars. They are tied in fourth with Jessica Weese, Ella Hansen, and Missy Gannon at 3-under par. Weese had the second-largest jump of the round moving up 12 spots with a 6-under par round. Like King and Pierce, Weese was blemish-free and didn’t even have to attempt a scramble.
- Not to be outdone by Weese, Catrina Allen moved up 10 spots of her own into solo third at 4-under par total. She tied Panis for highest fairway hit percentage and finding C2 in regulation, both at 72%.
Heard
“I left a couple out there but my putt felt so good. I was jamming them from circle’s edge. These baskets are really good for my putt and I’m feeling really confident out here.” — Paige Pierce
Statline
Paige Pierce is tied with Des Reading for the most USWDGC titles in history at three. In each of her three wins Pierce came into the final round with the lead. In 2019, Pierce was tied for the lead with Kirstin Tattar with 18 holes to go and Tattar outplayed her for the W.