We’re finally back in Europe.

July 19, 2022 by Justin Westfall and Charlie Eisenhood in Preview with comments

The wait is finally over: after two years of travel restrictions, a major championship along with a fleet of American players have returned to Europe for the 2022 European Open. Since the last European Open in 2019, Paul McBeth and Paige Pierce became 5-time world champions, the Disc Golf Pro Tour has more than doubled its number of Elite Series events, and roughly 100,000 people have registered for the PDGA. The sport has entered an entirely new phase in these past three years — ES and major events have more competitive fields and top athletes are signing far more lucrative sponsorship deals.

In any sport with major championships, the narrative often revolves around previous major winners and the opportunity to add to their resume. Paul McBeth, Paige Pierce, and Catrina Allen are the only players who have won this event since 2013, collecting nine titles between them. McBeth and Pierce could each win their 17th majors while Allen will be hunting her 8th career major championship. Ricky Wysocki is looking for his 7th career major but, more importantly, his first win at this event, having finished on the podium three times including 2019, when he began the final round with a one stroke lead. Two-time major champion James Conrad only played this event for the first time in 2019, but he registered a top 10 finish and has already gotten in a Euro event at the PCS Sula Open last week.

Past Winners

Six Things We’ll Be Watching

1. For nearly a decade, Paul McBeth has dominated this event, winning the last five in a row dating back to 2013 when he had just one world title to his name. It should come as no surprise that the man known as McBeast lists the Beast as his favorite course on UDisc, having won this tournament three more times than any other player in the event’s history. Even though he’s coming off three consecutive top 10 ES finishes, McBeth has been very up and down since losing a playoff in Jonesboro earlier this season. With a chance to snag his 17th career…