On top of the world
Evelina Salonen has dreamed of this moment her whole life. Last week at the 2024 PDGA Pro World Championship, Evelina won her first world title and third PDGA major. She is the first Finnish player to win a world championship and comes from a country with one of the most passionate and dedicated disc golf communities in the world. Needless to say, there's plenty to celebrate in Finland.
Star team member Kat Mertsch's final day effort made this year's final round her most memorable yet, as she finished in second place, her best finish at a PDGA major. At MPO, Calvin Heimburg tied for fourth place, and several other Innova athletes placed in the top 20 in both divisions.
Finland's first world champion
Think about it, Evelina. You're a World Champion! Innova Star team member Evelina Salonen has earned a historic title as one of the greatest players in disc golf history. She competed in five rounds on two of the most difficult courses ever to win the 2024 PDGA Pro World Championship. This is Evelina's third PDGA Major, including winning the 2024 Champions Cup earlier this year.
The final round of the FPO at this year's World Championship was a rollercoaster. In the early stages, Hollyn Handley and Evelina were trading strokes on almost every hole. Then Hollyn slowed down, while Kat Merci suddenly took the lead. All the top players had their moments of greatness and moments of struggle, but Evelina kept her cool and closed out the tournament. Evelina admits that it was a tough week on the greens, but the truth is that she was much better than the others in throwing, so it didn't matter if she made mistakes on putts.
Evelina led the field in C1 hits and C2 hits. She came out on top in strokes gained from tee to green with an astounding 41.44 strokes. By comparison, the runner-up in the same stat was 28.14. She also had one of the lowest OB rates in the field. Evelina took home the first place prize of $17,000, the largest prize money in the history of the FPO Worlds.
Evelina is clearly having the best season of her career. She won two PDGA majors (including the big one!) and two Disc Golf Pro Tour events. She placed 2nd and 4th in the other two majors. She only missed the top 10 in one DGPT event during the season. She also won the Finnish National Championship, becoming her 5th national champion. We won't know until the last tournament of the year, but Evelina is a front-runner for Player of the Year.
In MPO, USDGC and Worlds have equal weight. In FPO, Worlds is the only title that can be won. Given the strength of the FPO field and the history of single player dominance in that division, there are many more players who deserve a World Title but never win it than those who actually hoist the trophy. Eveliina will forever remain on the list of elite players who have actually made it.
This means so much because I've been dreaming about this my whole life… All my friends and family have always believed in me so I'm so grateful and I love you all.
– Evelina Salonen
Predicting a future World victory
Cat March's final round struggles were the storyline that made this World Championship so exciting. She was five strokes behind going into the final day, but made a strong showing over the first nine holes while the leaders struggled. She won four straight strokes from the seventh to the tenth hole to take the lead at the World Championship. From there, Cat made a string of bogeys to give Evelina some breathing room on the final hole. Cat took second place, her best result in 14 major appearances.
Cat was second in the field in Scramble Rate and Park Rate. She was third in the field in Putting Strokes Gained and Strokes Gained C2. Possessing great stats in both putting and driving is what makes Cat Melch a powerful weapon on the course.
Last year, Cat placed third at the PDGA Champions Cup, her first time on the podium at a major tournament, and she also won her first tour victory at the 2023 Jonesboro Open. Cat feels like a veteran on the tour, but she is still young and continues to improve each season. Most world champions have to suffer close, tough losses to gain the experience they need to close out a tournament. The next time Cat finds herself in the final stages of a major tournament with a chance to win, she will be even more prepared.
The King of Consistency
Calvin Heinberg has been a consistent performer in major tournaments. Over the past two seasons, Heinberg has only finished outside the top five in major tournaments twice. Last week at the 2024 PDGA World Championship, Calvin earned the lead card in the final round and then started off with three straight wins, putting pressure on Isaac Robinson. Calvin ultimately finished in a tie for fourth place.
Vinny birdied 50% of the holes through five rounds. He was second in fairways hit, C1 regulation hits, C2 regulation hits and strokes gained from tee to green. Since returning from Europe, Calvin has been on the podium twice on the Pro Tour and finished 4th at Worlds. With only Elite+, playoffs and major events remaining, he is on the brink of another win.
Henna and Hailey make it into the top 10
Haley King finished in seventh place with the highest birdie percentage of any competitor. Haley's scorecard was full of ups and downs, with only six pars across the first two rounds, but the ups clearly outweighed the downs as she finished in the top ten.
Henna Blomroos tied for ninth and led the week in fairways hit. This was Henna's 14th top 10 in major championships. When Evelina made the winning putt, Henna was there to celebrate her with a champagne shower.
Team Innova's Notable Performances
Team Innova's names were lined up at the top of the leaderboard at this year's Worlds. Orne Scoggins tied for 12th and was fourth in C1x putting. Jennifer Allen tied for 17th and tied the course record with a -6 in the final round. She rolled a 7 on the 342-foot hole in her round and moved up 11 places on the leaderboard from the previous day. Rising star Anneli Tujas Manniste should be proud of her performance in her first Worlds appearance. She tied for 17th and averaged 29 points better than her player rating.
At the MPO, Joel Freeman recovered from his position at the end of the first round (34th) to finish in a tie for 16th. Bradley Williams tied for 19th with Kevin Jones, who recorded his best world result since 2021. Mid-season addition Vaino Makela tied for 21st and Emerson Keith tied for 23rd.
Congratulations to Holly Finley for leading C1x Putting, with only three missed putts inside the circle throughout the five-round tournament. She also led Strokes Gained Putting. Also congratulations to Greg Barsby for the longest throw-in of the tournament at 411 feet on the 14th hole in the second round.
USDGC in the spotlight, dyed pink
With the World Championship over, attention shifts to USDGC and Throw Pink. The final PDGA major of the year will take place October 10-13 at Winthrop Arena in Rock Hill, South Carolina. With an expanded vendor village, the Fresh and Now concert series and two of the most competitive tournaments in disc golf, this is the event you won't want to miss this year. Tickets are available at USDGC.com. We'll see you at the Championship!
