2013 PDGA Worlds: McBeth Repeats

8.12.13

Paul McBeth made history last week becoming only the third person to successfully defend a men’s Open Division World Championship title. Paul lead wire-to-wire and nearly went bogey-free. His only bogey in 135 holes of golf came in the fourth round when a birdie putt bounced and rolled away, leaving a par putt that was a touch too high.

Entering Saturday morning’s 18-hole semi final round Paul was up by two. He extended that lead to 4 for the 9-hole final round in which he began with consecutive pars, then birdied 7 in a row to win by 5, the same margin of victory he enjoyed in 2012.

Paul now only needs to win the US Championship title this October to complete disc golf’s “grand slam” equivalent which this year includes the Copenhagen Open, European Open, World Championships, and United States Disc Golf Championship. Both Ken Climo and Barry Schultz have won both the World and US titles in the same year, but never has a player won 4 Majors in a single season. Paul could be the first. In addition to that success, McBeth has also won 2 of 7 National Tour events in 2013. The final NT event of the season is the Vibram Open, August 22-25.

It was almost a fairytale week for Barry Schultz who after his induction into the Disc Golf Hall of Fame, went on to win his first Masters Division World Championship. Appropriately enough, the win was over the legendary Ken Climo, with whom Barry has squared off many times over the years. Climo and Schultz won 8 of the first 9 United States Championships, and 14 of 17 World Championship titles from 1990 to 2006. They are two of the game’s all-time greats.

Valarie Jenkins played amazing golf all week to finish second in the Open Women’s division. After a week’s worth of golf Val fell short by one throw to Paige Pierce who earned her second world title. It was a heartbreaking conclusion as Val missed earning her 4th world title by one shot, for the second year in a row. Val continues to have one of the greatest female careers of all time however. She won the Women’s Open title in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and hasn’t been out of the top 5 at the event since 2004.

Florida’s Sandy Gast took home the Grandmaster Women’s division over teammate Kathy Hardyman. Kathy held the grandmaster’s title from 2006-2010 so this win will be especially memorable for Sandy. Then in the Legend’s division it was Peter Shive picking up his 10th world title. Peter won the Senior Grandmasters division in 1998, and then from 2001-2008! The ageless Shive still has plenty of gas in the tank, so look for him to tack on a few more world titles, at least.

Thanks again to tournament organizers Brian Cummings, Jay and Deb Svitko, and their tournament staff, along with the PDGA, DiscGolfPlanet.tv, and Lemon Lake County Park for all of their hard work.