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Hokom Storms To The Top, McBeth Holds Slim Lead After Wild Moving Day At The DGPT- Idlewild Open

Hokom Storms To The Top, McBeth Holds Slim Lead After Wild Moving Day At The DGPT- Idlewild Open

Idlewild Open Day Two Recap

Sunday, August 9, 2020 - 11:43

Sarah Hokom lines up a forehand drive at the 2020 DGPT - Idlewild Open. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen / DGPT 

Sarah Hokom seems to have found the magic formula at the Idlewild Open: keep the disc in-bounds and make the putts you’re supposed to make. That’s easier said than done on the bogey-inducing Idlewild layout, where the snakelike creeks and narrow wooded gaps have the players threading more needles than a Sunday morning sewing circle.

Hokom had only one OB stroke on her scorecard Saturday as she shot the hot round with a 2-under 66, catapulting to a 4-throw lead heading into Sunday’s finale. She has the lowest OB rate in the FPO field, as well as the best scrambling percentage.

“I was just trying to have some fun, take the pressure off myself,” she told Disc Golf Network’s Terry Miller. “Hit the lines. Enjoy throwing shots through the woods. Enjoy shaping the lines and just try to stay positive. You know, I’d throw a bad shot. Sometimes I got through, and I was like, ‘Sweet!’. Sometimes you didn’t, and I was like, ‘Alright, where are we throwing from now?’.”

Hokom, a three-time PDGA Major champion, has as much experience as anybody closing out big events. But, as she explained to Miller, no lead is safe at Idlewild:  

“Not out here,” she said. “Even having four strokes with three to go. On hole 16, I’ve take an four on it, and I’ve taken like a nine. On hole 17 you can go OB several times – off the tee, approach shot. And on 18, you know, if you get into trouble, it’s really easy to bogey it, or double bogey it. Right there you can lose six or seven strokes in three holes. So, yeah, you never feel comfortable out here.”

Should Hokom slip, Holly Finley and Catrina Allen will lead a group of women trying to capitalize. Finley began the day Saturday 5-throws clear of the field but found herself succumbing to the spotlight of the lead card.

“I was a little bit nervous,” she told Miller. “There was a lot of media around, and I haven’t really gotten quite used to that yet. It’s weird, though, because with modeling I see a lot of media teams, but with disc golf it’s just a different feeling.”

Back-to-back birdies on holes 11 and 12 helped get her back on track, however, and she finished with a solid 1-over on the back nine to stay within striking distance of her first elite series victory. Joining the final round lead card for the second straight DGPT event will be Ellen Widboom, who has been lights-out with the putter at 88% from C1x.

Paul McBeth got off to a blazing start on Saturday, making up for his lone bogey with an eagle on hole 8 and going 6-under through the front nine before cooling off for a 3-under on the more scoreable back-nine. He finds himself atop a tightly-packed MPO leaderboard heading into the final round, with Jeremy Koling sitting one throw back, and five other players within four of the lead.

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Paul McBeth will attempt to become the first MPO player to capture a second DGPT elite series title in 2020. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen / DGPT

If anyone can make themselves feel comfortable with a slim lead, however, it’s McBeth. And, as he told Miller, he’s not too worried about facing down what are considered to be two of the most challenging closing holes in disc golf:

“I feel like, on 17, I’ve got a really good shot there,” he said. “When I hit that gap, if anything it goes OB right past the basket and I have the putt that I had today -- a 20-footer for birdie. On 18, I shouldn’t scramble any worse than I did today, so – yeah – I feel pretty confident on those last two holes.”

Jeremy Koling will begin Sunday one throw behind McBeth, and looking to grab his first win of the season. He’ll be joined on the lead card by Adam Hammes and Jordan Castro, who led the field with an otherworldly 95% fairway hits in round two.

Catch the final round of the 2020 DGPT Idlewild Open for free, live on DGPT’s Youtube page, or on the Disc Golf Network beginning Sunday at 1:35pm ET.