At times it seemed inevitable. At other times, impossible.
In the end, it was Anthony Barela who was last to get off the rollercoaster ride that was the MPO finale at the 2024 Jonesboro Open, and when he did, it was with his third DGPT Elite Series win of this still-very-young season in-hand.
Barela entered the final round sharing the lead with Isaac Robinson atop a crowded leaderboard that included six players within two strokes.
Then things went south for the 2024 DGPT Season Points leader.
Watching Kristin Tattar take a victory lap on Sunday, the viewer might think they were watching the Tattar of 2022-2023, or maybe the Paige Pierce of 2017.
It was an all-out display of dominance that left little doubt about the outcome.
Indeed, most of the interest during Sunday’ FPO Final Round at the 2024 Jonesboro Open came from the race for 2nd place between Eveliina Salonen and Holyn Handley; that, and watching for highlight reel moments from the inevitable champion.
The World Champ, the defending Jonesboro champ and Player of the Year, the hottest player on tour, and Simon Lizotte.
Things are tight at the top of the MPO leaderboard in Jonesboro, AR, and after another windy lap around Disc Side of Heaven, the MPO field will showcase a final day lead card that feels like it was meant to be.
Isaac Robinson
There was no bigger mover on moving day than reigning PDGA World Champ Isaac Robinson, who finished 2nd in Jonesboro last year after bagging his maiden major title at Champions Cup.
Holyn Handley bounced back from a lackluster opener, improving eight strokes during Saturday’s Round 2 to match the Kristin Tattar’s hot round of the tournament at 10-under.
At one point, Handley went on a tournament-best streak of 7 birdies in a row and could have had even more had her putter not cooled on the back nine.
Currently ranked 6th in the Official Disc Golf World Rankings, Handley has been knocking on the door at Elite Series and Major tournaments with eight podium finishes to her credit over the past three seasons.
In the MPO Division, Day 1 was marked by a packed leaderboard with two players—DGPT season points leader Anthony Barela and a relative unknown, Kevin Kiefer III—tied at the top with 11-under opening rounds.
Barela, who is coming off his second DGPT Elite win of the year at Texas States, showed no sign of the nerves that often come along with being the guy to beat.
Stepping up to the first tee, donning his signature shields, Barela flawlessly executed one of the most difficult tee shots on the course—a downhill 520ft shot that requires a slow anny turn from a RHBH player.
Putting from 25ft, Barela caught the right side chains to drop in for birdie.
A sixth-place finish at a Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite Event is a result that most players would dream of. For Kristin Tattar, it represented her worst finish of the 2023 season at last year’s Jonesboro Open.
This year, the world number 1, who has called Jonesboro’s Disc Side of Heaven course one of her favorites on tour, showed that there was no love lost as she dashed off a blistering 1044-rated (unofficial) 10-under opening round.
With winds gusting, Tattar got off to a slow start, carding one of two bogies of the day on hole 2 after an uncharacteristic three-putt.
