“It felt like an eternity out there,” said Missy Gannon after the opening round of the 2023 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships presented by L.L.Bean.

The FPO division faced multiple changes to the weather including heavy rain as they made their way through the woods at Brewster Ridge. Despite the difficult conditions and the pressure of the PDGA Major, the top 14 players were able to stay under par for the day.

At this point, it should come as no surprise to see Kristin Tattar at the top of the leaderboard following the first round of a Major. Tattar has won both Majors so far this year (PDGA Champions Cup and the European Open) and fought through the tough conditions to finish the opening round at eight strokes under par.

“When we were on the par 5, it felt like somebody had a bucket full of water and was just pouring it on us,” Tattar said of navigating through the wooded fairways of hole 8, “It’s probably the heaviest rain I’ve ever played in.”

Tattar started off hot, going five down through the front 9 and then staying bogey-free until hole 16. Even with one blemish on her scorecard, Tattar was able to make the best of any scoring opportunities with 5.83 strokes gained tee to green in round 1. With only one missed putt inside the circle but multiple successful circle 2 putts, Tattar stayed in control no matter what the conditions were.

“I was just telling myself the conditions are the same for everyone. I just have to keep going, whatever happens, happens and I will deal with it,” Tattar said of persevering through the conditions to find ways to score.

Going into the second round, Tattar has a three-stroke lead on Valerie Mandujano, who recently gained some momentum going into the World Championships after winning the 2023 LWS Open at Idlewild. According to StatMando, this marks four-straight Majors where Tattar opened the tournament with a multi-stroke lead after round 1. Tattar and Mandujano will be joined on the round 2 lead card by Kat Mertsch and Missy Gannon, who have both taken wins at Elite Series events this year as well.

“There’s four more rounds, so plenty of time,” said 2023 Discraft Ledgestone Open Champion Missy Gannon.

While the FPO field is already seeing some score separation, there are plenty of opportunities to make a run for the title as they head to Fox Run Meadows for round 2 of the 2023 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships.