Team Innova Sweeps!
Team Innova picked the right weekend to bring the heat! Eveliina Salonen won the 2024 Champions Cup, becoming a 2x PDGA Major Champion. What’s more, Henna Blomroos and Ohn Scoggins tied for 2nd place to complete the rare Team Innova full podium sweep. With such a competitive field, to have even one athlete in the top 3 is an achievement; Sweeping the podium at a Major in today’s game is almost unheard of. You better believe Team Innova is celebrating!
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Eveliina is a Champion
Eveliina Salonen has already achieved more this season than most FPO athletes could dream of and we are only one third through the year. Last weekend, Eveliina earned one of disc golf’s highest honors, winning a PDGA Major title at the 2024 Champions Cup. That comes on the heels of Eveliina’s DGPT win at the Chess.com Invitational and her 2nd place finish at the USWDGC, another PDGA Major. Not surprisingly, Eveliina leads the DGPT Point Standings for 2024.
Photo by DGPT
Last weekend, Eveliina earned her win in the third round, where she shot the hot score of the tournament at -7. She went lights out from holes 9-14 taking six straight birdies. Her score was three strokes better than the next best in the field on that day, giving her a two stroke cushion going into the final round. Eveliina led the field in C1 and C2 Hits in Regulation for the event. She was 2nd in Strokes Gained Tee to Green and Parked percentage.
The Champions Cup is Eveliina’s second Major victory, but it stands out as the clear biggest win of her career. She also won the 2018 Konopiště Open, a PDGA Major in the Czech Republic, playing against a smaller, albeit still quite competitive field. With six years between Major victories and the hot start she has had to this 2024 season, Eveliina is cementing herself as one of the greats of her generation.
Blomroos Battles Back
Photo by DGPT
Henna Blomroos put together a stellar final round to nearly catch her teammate Eveliina and force a playoff. Henna shot a -5 and was one of just two players in the field to take an Eagle on hole 18. That Eagle put the pressure on Eveliina, meaning she needed Par or better on the final hole. Henna led the field in Strokes Gained Tee to Green and Parked percentage. Her 2nd place finish last weekend is her best result at a Major since 2022.
So Close for Scoggins
Ohn Scoggins has been on the podium of half the events so far this season. At last weekend’s Champions Cup, Ohn earned 2nd place, just one stroke off the lead. She led the field in Strokes Gained C2 and was 3rd in Scramble percentage. Ohn is the highest-rated player in the FPO who is yet to win an Open Major. She is driving better this year than ever before and is always deadly on the putting green. Keep an eye on Ohn at the remaining Majors in 2024.
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Innova’s Top MPO Performances
Team Innova’s Calvin Heimburg continues to find himself in the mix even though he is recovering from an injury. Vinny finished in 5th place at the 2024 Champions Cup without throwing forehands. He was 3rd in C1 Hits in Regulation and 2nd in C2 Hits in Regulation.
This is Calvin fourth Top 5 of the season out of six events. If he is playing this consistently while injured, he will be hard to beat once back at 100%.
Photo by DGPT
Joel Freeman landed in a tie for 6th place, his best finish at a DGPT Event or PDGA Major so far this year.
Gregg Barsby tied for 15th place, doing big-time Barsby things along the way; he had a throw-in over 100 feet in each of the first two rounds.
New Innova Team Member, Emerson Keith, had his best finish on tour of the year, tying for 17th.
Entering the Mid-Season
With one third of the Disc Golf Pro Tour season behind us, Team Innova is looking as strong as ever. We are on an eight event streak with at least one FPO athlete on the podium. Eveliina Salonen is the current player to beat in the field. In the MPO, many Innova names, from Big Jerm to Joel Freeman, have been in recent top 10s. Calvin Heimburg is consistently near the top of the field even though he is playing through an injury. Follow the Team at the DDO next weekend on the Disc Golf Network. Check Innovadiscs.com for tournament recaps, tips, Innova news, and more.
