James Conrad had a historic day at Disc Side of Heaven. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGPT

Spectators and players alike got to witness something incredible in Round 2 of the 2023 Play It Again Sports Jonesboro Open presented by Prodigy.

While the FPO field endured cold, rainy conditions, the rain died out and left another day of perfect scoring conditions for the MPO field.

James Conrad in particular took advantage of the opportunity at Disc Side of Heaven.

Arkansas’ own Kat Mertsch jumped to the top of the FPO leaderboard. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGPT

Mertsch Rises to the Top

While the hot rounds didn’t break under double digits in Round 2, the FPO field still saw tight competition at the top of the leaderboard. Kat Mertsch, who just last week took a podium finish at the PDGA Champions Cup, currently leads the field at 17 strokes under par after shooting seven-under for the day. Also scoring a seven-under round, Aria Castruita follows right behind Mertsch at 16 strokes under par.

Mertsch fought through the rain, taking a bogey on Hole 2, but scoring nine birdies before taking one last bogey on Hole 18. After attempting a left-handed backhand drive on hole 8 in Round 1 that resulted in a bogey, Mertsch switched up her gameplan and threw the forehand in Round 2. While still unable to get the birdie on the hole, she improved on day two by taking a par.

When asked about her plan going into the final round, Mertsch said, “Blast it and hope it goes in, try to ace it.”

Mertsch…