But that number has been cut and Championship Saturday has arrived with a few things locked up and quite a few things left to be settled with the semifinals and finals left to go.
Nearly 900 players got a chance at redemption on Thursday throughout Emporia.
Round 3 of the 2024 PDGA Masters Disc Golf World Championships had players return to the course where they kicked off the week looking to improve or back up their first-round showing.
It's wasn't officially moving day — that happens Friday before the cut to Saturday morning's semifinal rounds — but there were plenty of moves throughout the leaderboards.
Looking for the four-peat in MP60, Tim Keith jumped to a one-stroke lead. That's the same margin for new MP65 leader Bill Rohe as well as Sweden's Jonas Pärtma in MA50.
With two of the four rounds before Saturday's cut to the semifinals in the books, the battles tightened in the professional divisions and new names emerged across the top of the leaderboard in 10 of the 12 amateur divisions.
More than 850 players across 24 divisions representing 18 countries kicked off the 2024 PDGA Professional & Amateur Masters Disc Golf World Championships on Tuesday.
After extreme weather atnd flooding dampened the pre-event days, the skies cleared on Tuesday and, if the Round 1 action was any indication, it's going to be a battle to the finish in Emporia, Kansas.
Ryan Monn and Lucas Carmichael set the pace with 5-under rounds in the opening round, which featured swirling winds, sporadic showers and intermittent sunshine, for the 148 players to kick off the 22nd running of this PDGA Major.
With a history of producing the next big names of the sport, the 22nd United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship on Friday at the famed Toboggan Course in Milford, Michigan.
You know the names of the previous winners of this PDGA Major — David Wiggins Jr., Benjamin Callaway, Anthony Barela, Gavin Rathbun, Kyle Klein and Robert Burridge, among many others — and at the end of three days on the demanding hills in Michigan, you'll learn a new name.
Proposals to host a prestigious PDGA Major — pinnacle events of the disc golf world — will be accepted from June 3 through October 1, 2024. This is a unique opportunity to showcase your expertise, your passion for the sport and your local area on a global stage.
The PDGA will be accepting bids for 2026 and 2027 at this time. If there are no viable bids for 2027, all bid submissions will be considered for 2026, and the bid documents for 2027 will be re-issued in 2025.
With the revered and feared Northwood Park serving as temporary host and Mother Nature throwing in a few wrinkles, the 2024 PDGA Champions Cup presented by Bushnell title was set up to come down to the wire.
But the leaders on top heading into Championship Sunday faced pressure from every direction along the way.
Eveliina Salonen and Andrew Presnell entered the woods of Northwood Park, dampened by storms throughout the week, and the best players in the world, fueled by the quest for a PDGA Major title, ahead of them.
Andrew Presnell has 11 A-Tier wins, 57 B-Tier wins and 97 starts at PDGA Majors and on the Elite Series.
On Championship Sunday at the 2024 PDGA Champions Cup, he'll make his debut on a final card at a Major for the first time.
Presnell emerged at the end of a wild and long day at Northwood Park in Morton, Illinois with a one-stroke lead. He entered Sunday six strokes back of the lead and used a strong finish to be the first player to tee off on Sunday's final card.
Eveliina Salonen took off on a stretch at Northwood Park surged her to the top of the leaderboard on Friday.
Six-straight birdies on holes 9-14, a run that gave her an 8.65 strokes-gained advantage on the rest of the field, puts Salonen ahead by two strokes heading into Championship Sunday at the 2024 PDGA Champions Cup presented by Bushnell.
Rachel Turton had just one bogey on Friday to turn in the hot round of the day. Photo: Danny Voss / PDGA
The difficulty of Northwood picked up a few notches on Friday — both on the physical and mental side.
Dark skies and lightning lingered in the Morton, Illinois area during Round 2 of the PDGA Champions Cup presented by Bushnell, forcing lengthy delays and even tougher conditions when the play resumed and continued into the night.
Casey White has a history of shooting well at Northwood Park as well as the PDGA Champions Cup.
He had the hot round again when those two entities collided on Thursday.
White birdied nine holes at Northwood Park and limited the damage to just two bogies to take a one-stroke lead after the opening day of the 2024 PDGA Champions Cup presented by Bushnell.
His previous lead at a PDGA Major: The 2022 Champions Cup. His previous hot round: Round 3 of the 2023 Ledgestone Open at Northwood, according to StatMando.
Hitting 20 out of a possible 22 fairways — including the four par 5s at the revised Northwood layout — Saarinen turned in the second-highest rated round of her career, unofficially at 1013, for a one-stroke lead in Morton, Illinois.
Battling a lingering finger injury, Valerie Mandujano battled through for a 4-under score and is tied with Missy Gannon, who capped off her 4-under round with an eagle on 18, and Holyn Handley.
The 2024 PDGA Champions Cup kicks off Thursday and runs through Sunday at Northwood Park in Morton, Illinois and active PDGA members can watch every minute of the action FREE on the Disc Golf Network.
All you have to do is link your PDGA account to your DGN account and it just takes a few steps.
Isaac Robinson is back to defend his Champions Cup title. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGN
It's been a wild 2024 season so far with one first-time PDGA Major champion already being crowned.
Now, on the famed Northwood track in Morton, Illinois, it's time crown two more Major champions.
Beginning Thursday, the best of the best hit the course for the 2024 PDGA Champions Cup presented by Bushnell — the first MPO PDGA Major of the year and second for FPO with Missy Gannon taking down the USWDGC Major title in March.
UNC Charlotte celebrates at the 2024 College Disc Golf National Championship. Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA
It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.
UNC Charlotte — the No. 1 seed coming into the 2024 College Disc Golf National Championship — stumbled out of the gate on Championship Saturday but rallied and — after an incredibly clutch putt — left Rock Hill, South Carolina on top of the College Disc Golf World.
More champions were crowned on Thursday and it came down to the wire.
In Men’s Division I singles, Ferris State’s Benjamin Zorn battled the loop around Winthrop Lakefront, the wind and a strong field to jump all the way from the third card – and three strokes back – to the top spot in College Disc Golf men’s singles.
