EO2016 Preview: Amazing week of Disc Golf ahead (videos)
The stage is set and the players are ready. It feels like it was just a moment ago when Simon Lizotte was crowned the DGWT #2 Konopiste Open champion after his epic birdie-eagle-birdie finish that forced himself, Paul McBeth and KJ Nybo to a 3-man playoff.
Speaking of these guys, let’s take a quick look at the favourites to come up on top at the European Open 2016.
Simon Lizotte (GER)
Video: Simon Lizotte’s awesome throw in eagle on hole 17 eventually lead him to victory at the Konopiste Open.
The German wunderkind has great momentum behind him after the Konopiste Open victory. Simon has been seen carding hot rounds on “The Beast” especially early in the event, but so far he has stayed outside the top 3 in the final standings. This time the new 3 round format may help Lizotte, who much to his own surprise actually arrived to Nokia earlier than McBeth, who’s known for giving Simon hard time for his occasionally short preparation for big events.
Paul McBeth (USA)
Video: Paul McBeth hit a sweet ace on the first round of Konopiste Open.
There’s no event where you can count the 4-time and reigning world champion Paul McBeth out of the competition for the highest place on the podium. While Paul has given some room for the competition in the past couple of months, he is still the highest rated player in the world, DGWT points leader and the winner of the past 2 editions of the European Open.
Ricky Wysocki (USA)
Video: Ricky Wysocki nailed this monster putt to win the 2016 Masters Cup.
Coming to Nokia with two big wins (Masters Cup & St. Jude Charity Invitational) under his belt, Ricky Wysocki seems to be having his game dialed in nicely. In European Open 2015 Ricky was right at McBeth’s heels up until the treacherous island hole 16 where, in a dramatic turn of events, he missed the island 3 times and lost his hopes of joining the very exclusive club of European Open champions. Will his great momentum take him to victory this week? We’ll find out in just a couple of days!
KJ Nybo (DK)
Video: KJ Nybo hits an awesome drop in eagle on hole 11 at Konopiste Open. Find more videos like this from our Instagram account!
The 10-time Danish champion KJ Nybo has been performing very well on the past 2 World Tour events, with his tied 7th place at La Mirada Open and tied 2nd place at Konopiste. KJ knows the EO course very well, and it definitely plays to his advantages, as a high green hit percentage is much needed to score low on the Beast.
Bubbling under
Video: Seppo Paju’s (FIN) mind-boggling eagle on hole 9 of the Konopiste Open course.
Behind these 4 favourites there a strong field of Finnish talent, hungry to showcase their skills in front of a home crowd. Seppo Paju, Pasi Koivu, Leo Piironen, Teemu Nissinen and a a number of others all have the capability to challenge to best players of the world in a course like the Beast.
No matter whoever comes up on top this, we can safely say that it’s looking to be a very exciting week of disc golf here at Nokia. Seeing these top professionals battling one of the best (if not the best) courses of the world is something we highly recommend to come watch in person. If, however, you can’t be here at Nokia this week, we highly recommend to check out our guide for online followers right here!
And if you haven’t already, check out the fresh pictures from the course right here!
