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european open

It came down to the finish line in Finland.

While the FPO field had a clear frontrunner by the end of day two, the MPO division saw a new leader after each round at the 2023 European Open, the second PDGA Pro Major of the year.

Kyle Klein led after the opening round, then Anthony Barela in round 2, then Calvin Heimburg in round 3 with Corey Ellis joining them on the lead card going into the final round. All four players were looking for their first Major title at an event that had never been won by a player without a previous Major win.

“Last time I played here was four years ago and I feel like I had a totally different game back then,” Kristin Tattar said after becoming the first European player to win the European Open. “It was one of my goals going into this season to win the European Open and I’m just super happy that I did it.”

Calvin Heimburg built a two-stroke lead on Saturday. Photo: Daniel Voss / PDGA

Calvin Heimburg made a seemingly quietly move to the chase card on Saturday at the 2023 European Open, the second PDGA Major of the year.

He wasn’t quiet on Moving Day.

Heimburg dropped a 1080-rated 12-under round to jump to a two-stroke lead heading into Championship Sunday in Nokia, Finland with 18 holes remaining on The Beast between him and his first PDGA Major title.

It was the hottest round of the day by one stroke. Estonia’s Mauri Villmann followed with an 11-under round to jump into a tie for eighth place.

Henna Blomroos is in second place. Photo: Dan Voss / PDGA

Round 3 of the 2023 European Open saw very little change to the top of the leaderboard on moving day, with the same four players remaining on top.

Kristin Tattar shot her worst round of the tournament at even par, but still tied for the hot round with Heidi Laine and Ella Hansen. While Tattar was disappointed with her performance, she still managed to extend her lead to 14 strokes over second place. Never content to rest on her laurels, Tattar seems motivated to finish out the tournament with a score that meets her standards.

The MPO field will see a completely different lead card on Saturday after a leaderboard shakeup in Round 2 of the 2023 European Open.

Anthony Barela shot the hot round at 12-under to jump up 10 places and lead the tournament at 19 strokes under par. While nowhere near as big a lead as we saw by this point last year, Barela now has a two-stroke lead over Albert Tamm and Eagle McMahon.

“I was just throwing the disc great and making all my circle 1 putts. I was pretty happy with how I threw every hole except for that bounce and rollaway on 18,” Barela said after tying the course record in Round 2.

After another scorching round on day two of the 2023 European Open, Kristin Tattar has expanded her lead even further over the rest of the FPO field.

Just like in Round 1, Tattar was the only FPO player to shoot under par, this time shooting six-under to expand her lead to 13 strokes over 2nd place. According to StatMando, this is the largest two-round Major lead since Valarie Jenkins’ 13-stroke lead in the 2015 Aussie Open and largest ever two-round lead at a European Major.

As we’ve seen through the whole 2023 season, the opening round finished with a logjam at the top of the MPO leaderboard at the 2023 European Open.

Kyle Klein currently has the solo lead at 10 strokes under par while four players are tied for second at 9-under. Defending champion Eagle McMahon and last year’s runner-up Paul McBeth are only two strokes back of the lead yet find themselves tied for sixth place. Every missed putt and OB stroke out on the Beast can feel devastating as finishing just four strokes back of the lead puts you in a four-way tie for 17th place.

Teele Toomsalu. Photo: Daniel Voss / PDGA

The Beast showed its teeth as the FPO field played the opening round of the 2023 European Open. The new FPO layout proved challenging as the course averaged more than six strokes over par with every player taking at least two bogeys.

The difficulty of this course can cause severe score separation. Hole 11 for example, had a 23% birdie rate but still averaged 0.69 strokes over par while Holes 4, 12, and 16 saw no birdies on the day. Players are rewarded for hitting gaps in the woods and staying in bounds but any mistake can leave them scrambling back to the fairway or taking a risky shot to save the par.

The best of the best — and the strongest field in the history of the prestigious tournament — has landed in Nokia, Finland for the 2023 European Open presented by Discmania. Many of the top players from the United States traveled to Norway to join the Euro Tour for the PCS Open last week and will now have a chance at a PDGA Major title. The European Open was established in 2006 and has become the premier professional disc golf event in Europe.

Presidents Cup 2023: Team USA Seeks to Extend Dominance as Europe Aims for Upset

As the disc golf world eagerly awaits the second PDGA Pro Major of the year, the 2023 European Open in Nokia DiscGolfPark, there’s a captivating prelude that promises to set the stage for an unforgettable week of disc golf action. The prestigious Presidents Cup, a thrilling team event between the United States and Europe, will take place on Wednesday, July 19th. Disc golf enthusiasts from around the globe will witness elite players from both continents compete fiercely to determine the best team.

Pierce Rallies for Record Title

Eveliina Salonen found herself in her first tight spot of the day mere seconds after taking the tee as the final round leader of the first PDGA Major outside North America in three years.

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Eveliina Salonen scorched the Beast on Friday. Photo: DGN

Day two of the 2022 European Open is in the books, and there was seemingly as many storylines to follow as there were rays of sunshine beaming down on the packed spectator's gallery.

Salonen Soars

Coming into round two, Kat Mertsch was hanging onto her first career Major lead, separating herself from three different nationalities represented on the lead card, all tied up a single stroke behind her pace-setting opening day performance. Those being Catrina Allen (US), Keiti Tate (EST) and Heidi Laine (FI).

Paul McBeth is looking for his sixth European Open title as the PDGA Major returns to Finland. Photo: Kevin Huver

It’s time.

After three long years in which the world has battled a pandemic and disc golf has experienced massive growth, a PDGA Major finally returns to the international stage for the 2022 European Open presented by Discmania.

The long-awaited return to Finland and the beloved and revered Beast course at Nokia DiscGolfPark in Nokia begins Thursday and runs through Sunday, when two PDGA Major champions will be crowned.

It’s the 10th running of the European Open, which began as a PDGA Major in 2006.

What a day. The final round. The crowd. The live TV broadcast. It was one of the most memorable final rounds European Open has ever witnessed. In the end, it was Paul McBeth in MPO and Paige Pierce in FPO who had what it takes to tame the Beast and take the titles of European Open 2013 Champions.

Many had been wondering whether we really had seen the best of defending champion David Feldberg at the European Open yet. Moving Day showed that we definitely hadn’t. Feldberg came to the course determined to change the direction of his game and to secure a spot in the top cards in the final. To prove his point, he shot a new course record of 52 (-12) and showed everyone just how good a player he is, come crunchtime. His stellar round earned him a spot on the lead card on third place.

Overcast skies, rain showers, steady winds, and unseasonably cool weather once again challenged the competitors during Friday’s second round of the European Open in Nokia Finland. The “Beast” course, designed by EO tournament director Jussi Meresmaa, lived up to its name in yesterday’s initial round as an even par round of 64 was preliminarily rated at 1017, and a round of 66 (+2) was 1000 rated. The challenging conditions on Friday would surely test the mettle and mental fortitude of every competitor.

Round 1 of the 2013 European Open was played on Thursday under very challenging conditions. What was only a strong wind during Wednesday’s President’s Cup turned into a cold light drizzle in the morning and steady rain in the afternoon on Thursday. The last groups were able to finish their rounds in beautiful sunny weather, as the ever-changing climate at Nokia pushed the round lengths up to 5 hours.

American Men & Women Sweep the Euro Major

It was a star spangled final day at the European Open in Nokia Finland, with the Americans “finn-ishing” 1-2-3 in the Open and Women’s Divisions.

Entering Round 4, three time Women’s World and defending Euro Open Champ Val Jenkins had a comfortable 13 throw lead. She would extend her margin of victory to 17 by shooting a steady +5 69 on Sunday. The rest of the Pro Ladies lead card would “finn-ish” as they started with 2010 Rookie of the Year Paige Pierce in 2nd, fellow Tour-ist Melody King in 3rd, and local favorite Anne Matilainen in 4th.

Americans Move Up On Moving Day

Saturday is known as moving day in golf and while no one made a bigger move at the European Open in Finland today than Sweden’s Jesper Lundmark, whose bogey free 10 down 54 was the low score in Round 3, there was no doubt that the day belonged to the Tour-ists from USA. With Team Europe members KJ Nybo, Simon Lizotte, and Ville Piippo sliding backwards the leader boards at this year’s Euro Major event are now painted in red, white and blue.

Team USA Retains the 2009 Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup was held for the 3rd time today, with 2 time Champions Team USA facing off against Europe’s best disc golfers on the par 60 Epila Park Course in Tampere, Finland. While Europe were both the sentimental favorites and the team of choice for the estimated 250 spectators on hand, their task of beating a Team USA made up of 5 World Champions (Feldberg, Climo, Nate Doss, Avery & Val Jenkins) and the defending European Open Women’s Champion (Burl) was a most daunting one.

Since its inception in 2006, the European Open - a PDGA Major event - has become a highlight of the tour season for the leading Europeans and the world's top players.