It’s quite clear who the best MPO player in 2023 pro disc golf. A season fantasy owner’s dream come true. When you’re the highest rated player in the division, the expectation is you’ll play the best. It doesn’t always work out that way, but Calvin Heimburg is accomplishing some rare feats.
In the 2nd annual Champions Cup, first Major of the 2023, Calvin took 16th place. This is his worst finish in 2023, so far. It’s also the best worst finish in the division. Cale Leiviska is 2nd best with 19th place at the Open at Austin. Calvin’s 16th place equals 178 MPO SkipAce points in re-draft leagues.
Starting with LVC and going through Jonesboro Open, Calvin has played in 8 events which includes the 5 Elite events, 1 Major, and 2 Silver events. He has won 3 of the 8, the most in the division. 2 of his victories are Elite wins (LVC & Jonesboro), the most in MPO. His 2nd worst finish in 2023 was at the Blue Ridge Championship, when he took 4th place. This equals 215 SkipAce points, in re-draft leagues.
In 2021, Ricky Wysocki averaged just over 4th place (4.2) in 19 events: 17 ES, 2 Majors. He was #1 player that year by most accounts. After 6 Elite events in 2021, Ricky averaged 4.0, or 4th place. He didn’t play his first Major in 2021 until after his 8th ES event. After 6 events in 2023, Calvin is averaging 4.5 place. This of course includes 1 Major and 5 Elite events. Whereas after 5 Elite events in 2021, Ricky averaged 4th place, as well. Calvin in his 5 Elite events is averaging 2.2. Nearly twice as good as Ricky 2 years ago. The 2 best MPO season averages in 2022 were 7.0 and 7.2, by Paul McBeth and Gannon Buhr, respectively.
While 2023 is still relatively young, it’s undeniable that Calvin equals fire in the first third of the season. In the upcoming OTB tournament, Calvin is averaging a finish of 3rd (3.0) place in the last 5 years. This includes 2018 and 2019 San Francisco Open events, same venue. Eagle McMahon has the best average of 2nd place (2.0) and has also played 3 times. Ricky is averaging 3.3, yet has played 4 of the past 5 years. Simon Lizotte has also played 4 of the last 5, and is averaging 6th place, while being the 2022 defending champ at OTB. In the last 3 events that top MPO has played in terms of Elite events and Majors, Isaac Robinson is leading the way with 4th place average, including win at Champions Cup. Buhr is tied with Calvin for 2nd with average of 6.7. And Eagle is 4th, at 7.3 avg place in last 3 events.
Still, fantasy wise Calvin is playing on a whole other level in 2023. Of the 8 total events so far, Calvin is averaging 225 SkipAce points, per event. Equivalent to 2nd place. The next closest competitor, also playing the 8 events, is Kyle Klein, with 198 points per events, or an average of 7th place.
