Here\u2019s a look at the top MPO storylines headed into this weekend\u2026<\/p>\n
1\ufe0f\u20e3 Gannon Buhr\u2019s Historic Season Continues<\/p>\n
Gannon Buhr enters the 2026 Champions Landing Open as the clear player to beat, arriving in Emporia fresh off another historic milestone. After winning the Heinola Open for his 6th Tour victory of the season, Buhr reached a PDGA player rating of 1063, the highest rating ever recorded in MPO history. Sitting comfortably atop the DGPT Powerball World Standings, the 21-year-old enters the JomezPro Series event with nearly every major indicator pointing toward another championship run.<\/p>\n
Emporia also carries significant history for Buhr, dating back to his 2019 PDGA Junior Disc Golf World Championships MJ15 victory in the city. At the professional level, his results at Emporia have varied, but he has already proven he can contend on these courses, most recently finishing 2nd at the 2024 Dynamic Discs Open. With the Tour heading to Peoria the following week for the DGPT+ Ledgestone Open, where Buhr will enter as the defending champion, his appearance at Champions Landing further shows his commitment to maintaining momentum. Regardless of the final result, the event provides another valuable opportunity for the world\u2019s top player to sharpen his game against elite competition heading into another major stretch of the season.<\/p>\n
2\ufe0f\u20e3 Joel Freeman\u2019s Form Returns in Emporia<\/p>\n
Joel Freeman enters the 2026 Champions Landing Open as the second-highest rated player in the field at 1040 and one of the most intriguing contenders to watch in Emporia. His Tour season has been a mixed bag, opening the year with consecutive top-10 finishes before falling into a difficult stretch, most recently finishing 32nd at the Kansas City Wide Open. However, Freeman quickly answered that result with a dominant run outside of the Tour, winning five consecutive PDGA events that included three A-Tiers and two B-Tiers. While his Tour results have been inconsistent, his ability to consistently find the top of leaderboards across all levels of competition remains undeniable.<\/p>\n
Freeman also brings valuable Emporia experience into the weekend, having competed in five Tour events in the city and earning two top-10 finishes during those appearances. Earlier this season, he captured the Capital City Classic, and he previously finished T4 at the 2025 Glass Blown Open presented by Dynamic Discs (a DGPT Q-Series event), showing that he can perform well in Kansas conditions. Currently sitting 61st in the DGPT Powerball World Standings, Freeman\u2019s ranking does not fully reflect his potential, especially considering he played only five Tour events in 2025. If he can carry his recent winning form into Champions Landing, he has the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and familiarity to become one of the event\u2019s biggest threats.<\/p>\n
3\ufe0f\u20e3 A Wide-Open Opportunity in Emporia<\/p>\n
With a smaller field assembled at the 2026 Champions Landing Open as many of the sport\u2019s top players prepare for the upcoming Ledgestone Open, the door is wide open for several notable contenders to make a statement. Parker Welck enters as the third-highest rated player in the field and brings a unique advantage: proven success at this venue. The 2023 Dynamic Discs Open champion has experienced an inconsistent Tour season, recording one top-10 finish through nine Tour events, but he enters Emporia with recent momentum after finishing 3rd at the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open (a PDGA A-Tier event). With his only career Tour victory coming on this course, Welck has already shown he can capitalize when everything comes together.<\/p>\n
Matthew Orum is another experienced contender searching for a return to championship form. Through nine Tour events this season, Orum has recorded one top-10 finish while struggling to find the consistency that has defined some of his best stretches, including his 2023 MVP Open victory. Since that win, he has still collected two Tour podium finishes and remains a proven threat when his game is clicking. Coming off a break since the Northwest Championship, a rested and motivated Orum could be a dangerous player in Emporia.<\/p>\n
Other names to watch include Jaden Rye, who earned his first career Tour podium at the Open at Austin and has two top-10 finishes this season, Robert Burridge, who is coming off a strong 13th-place finish at the Swedish Open, and G.T. Hancock, who enters with two Kansas victories this season across A-Tier and B-Tier competition. With fewer established names in the field, this event presents a valuable opportunity for one of these contenders to capture a career-defining victory.<\/p>\n
All the action starts on Friday, July 24th! Follow live scores and stats<\/a> all weekend, and catch next-day post-produced coverage from JomezPro<\/a> after each round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a look at the top MPO storylines headed into this weekend\u2026 1\ufe0f\u20e3 Gannon Buhr\u2019s Historic Season Continues…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[88,1443,16705,16706,2053,1389,16710,16707,16709,16708,11637],"class_list":["post-42105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bmw-championship","tag-88","tag-bmw-championship","tag-cascade","tag-cascade-challenge","tag-event-preview","tag-how-to-watch","tag-jomezpro-series","tag-shelton","tag-shelton-springs","tag-wa","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}