The 2026 Northwest Championship presented by Latitude 64° delivered four days of elite competition in Portland, Oregon, as players battled across Milo McIver and Glendoveer in one of the most complete early-season tests on the Disc Golf Pro Tour. From signature wooded shot-shaping in the opening rounds to high-pressure, open-style scoring battles down the stretch, the event produced a steady stream of highlights, breakthrough performances, and tight finishes across both divisions. With Tour champions reinforcing their status, rising stars breaking through, and deep leaderboard fights shaping both MPO and FPO, Portland once again proved to be a true proving ground for the season ahead.

Here are some of the top storylines and biggest shots from an unforgettable week at the Northwest Championship…

1) Gannon Buhr’s Portland Three-Peat

Gannon Buhr did it again at the Northwest Championship, going undefeated in Portland for the third year in a row and adding yet another statement win to his 2026 season. He finished at -32 to secure his fourth Tour victory of the year and 23rd career Tour win, carrying momentum straight from his JomezPro Series Cascade Challenge win last week after a playoff loss to Calvin Heimburg at the OTB Open.

This one was far from a wire-to-wire cruise, as Buhr entered the final round four strokes back of Eagle McMahon and got off to a relatively slow start by his standards before steadily climbing back into position. Championship Sunday is where he made his move, firing a hot round -11 at Glendoveer (tied with Gavin Babcock for the hot round) to surge to the top. He finished the event with a 49% birdie rate, while leading the field in parked percentage at 15%, reaching C2 in regulation at 75%, and in strokes gained from tee-to-green at 25.87, once again showing why he remains the player to beat. The win also extends his lead atop the DGPT Powerball World Standings and sends him into the European swing with serious momentum ahead of the European Open.

2) Silva Saarinen’s Breakthrough DGPT+ Win

Silva Saarinen continued her strong early-season run at the Northwest Championship, claiming her second Tour victory of 2026 and first ever DGPT+ win with a dominant five-stroke margin at 34-under. She entered the final round with a two-stroke lead and steadily pulled away, carrying momentum from her win at the Cascade Challenge just a week earlier, a JomezPro Series event, as well as back-to-back runner-up finishes at earlier DGPT+ stops. This win marks her eighth career Tour victory and her first DGPT+ breakthrough after repeatedly knocking on the door in recent weeks.

Saarinen backed up the result with elite scoring all weekend, leading the field in birdie percentage at 50% (tied with Holyn Handley) and posting hot rounds on both courses. She fired a 1025-rated, 11-under-par round at Milo McIver in Round 2, followed by a 1013-rated, 10-under-par final round at Glendoveer on Championship Sunday (tied with Handley’s Round 3), where she went 100% from Circle 1 and carded a bogey-free round to claim the FPO title.

Her weekend included a key eagle on Milo McIver’s 630-foot, par-5 Hole 5, and she maintained control from start to finish, holding off the field despite strong pushes from the top of the leaderboard. The win keeps her firmly in third place in the DGPT Powerball World Standings behind Holyn Handley and Ohn Scoggins, and sets up an important stretch ahead with the European Open next on the schedule. Saarinen enters the event as the defending champion at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.

3) A Four-Way Fight at Glendoveer

The MPO lead card delivered one of the most intense finishes of the 2026 season at the Northwest Championship, with a four-way battle that stayed alive all the way through Glendoveer. Eagle McMahon entered the final round with the lead at -25, holding a one stroke edge over Isaac Robinson at -24, while Gannon Buhr sat at -21 in third and Ricky Wysocki at -20 in fourth, setting the stage for a tightly packed chase at the top.

Wysocki came out firing with three straight birdies and never recorded a bogey in the final round, leaning on strong putting throughout as he led the tournament in average and total putting distance. He finished with an 8-under final round and closed the event in solo 4th, his best finish since the Kansas City Wide Open, though a late-round fade over the final stretch ultimately kept him out of the title fight.

Isaac Robinson also made a serious push for his first win of the season, battling through a slow start at -1 through 8 holes before catching fire on the back nine. He briefly took control of the lead by Hole 13 and held it until Hole 15, where the momentum shifted as Buhr began to close the gap. Despite a few missed opportunities earlier in the round, including costly spit outs, Robinson capped his week with an eagle on Hole 18 to finish solo 2nd, marking his third podium of the season.

Now Isaac Robinson is just 1 stroke back from the lead 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hkJdSIGd7Q

— Disc Golf Pro Tour (@DiscGolfProTour) June 7, 2026

Eagle McMahon’s return to Portland form showed all weekend as he led the tournament in three of the four rounds, highlighted by the hot round of the weekend at Milo McIver in Round 2 (-11), tied with Isaac Robinson and Anthony Barela for the hot round of the tournament at Milo. Entering the final round in the lead, he remained in contention deep into the back nine. However, he was ultimately overtaken down the stretch and finished solo third, earning his first Tour podium since his third-place finish at the 2024 World Championships. In the end, the final round at Glendoveer turned into a pressure-filled shootout where all four players had a real chance at the title, making it one of the defining finishes of the season so far.

4) Young Stars Break Through in Portland

Despite the main storyline in the FPO field this season being the three-way battle at the top between Tour champions Silva Saarinen, Holyn Handley, and Ohn Scoggins, there was also a notable showing from a pair of young stars who broke into the top-10 and made some noise of their own in Portland.

Eliezra Midtlyng delivered her strongest result of the 2026 season, finishing 3rd for her second career Tour podium and first since the 2024 Des Moines Challenge, where she finished 2nd. She came out firing at Milo McIver, sharing the Round 1 lead with a -7 and ultimately finished with a 994 rated event, her second-best Tour rating to date. Midtlyng posted a 46% birdie rate and led the field in C1 in regulation at 51%, showing real control tee to green throughout the weekend while climbing to 20th in the DGPT Powerball World Standings.

Rebecca Don also continued her strong form with a 6th place finish, backing up her 5th place result at the OTB Open to secure back-to-back top-10s for the first time this season. The Canadian standout is trending in the right direction at the perfect time, moving up to 16th in the standings as she continues building consistency heading into the European swing.

An early laced drive for Rebecca Don on the 3rd! pic.twitter.com/a8MSCgmeWS

— Disc Golf Pro Tour (@DiscGolfProTour) June 7, 2026

5) Big Names & Breakthroughs Fill Out MPO Top-10 in Portland

The MPO leaderboard at the Northwest Championship was just as deep outside the podium, with several strong performances highlighting how tight the field continues to be. Cory Ellis led that group with his first top-5 finish of the 2026 season, taking 5th place and stacking a number of standout putts throughout the weekend that kept him in the mix late into Sunday. Luke Taylor also continued his steady run with a 6th place finish, his third top-10 of the season, and spent both rounds at Milo McIver on the lead card while staying firmly in contention.

Behind them, Albert “Bazooka” Tamm made a notable return to the top-10 in 7th place, earning his first top-10 finish since the 2024 Jonesboro Open. Anthony Barela also landed in a crowded 7th place finish despite leading the field in birdie percentage at 51% and fairway hit percentage at 85%, continuing a strong stretch of form even if he could not fully recreate his 2025 Northwest success. Rounding out the group, Gavin Babcock tied Gannon Buhr for the hot round at Glendoveer with a -11 and finished 9th, marking his third top-10 in his last four Tour events as he continues to build momentum in search of his first DGPT victory.

BULLSEYE for Luke Taylor on the 6th 🎯 pic.twitter.com/GmcDNHkAwU

— Disc Golf Pro Tour (@DiscGolfProTour) June 5, 2026

BONUS) Throw-In Magic Lights Up the Northwest

The Northwest Championship also delivered a pair of standout highlight moments that lit up both venues. At Milo McIver in Round 2, Anniken Steen cashed a 301-foot throw-in eagle on Hole 11, one of the cleanest moments of the weekend, and carried that momentum to a T10 finish for her third top-10 of the 2026 season.

On the MPO side, Round 3 at Glendoveer produced its own viral moment when Bradley Williams dropped in a 99-foot “thrutt” on Hole 9, a shot that perfectly matched the chaos of Championship Sunday. Williams went on to finish 9th, marking his best result of the 2026 season and his first top-10 since the 2025 MVP Open. Between Steen’s long-range eagle and Williams’ ridiculous touch shot under pressure, Portland once again delivered the kind of highlight reel moments that defined the week from start to finish.

Editor’s Note: Tour events include DGPT Elite Series, DGPT+, DGPT Playoff, and PDGA Pro Major events.