Better late than never. This article comes just in time to have some fantasy owners adjust their lineups at the last minute.
TL;DR
- Lisa Fajkus
- Alexis Mandujano
- Holly Finley
- Madison Walker
- Corey Ellis
- Kevin Jones
- Double G
Battles to Watch at Ledgestone
For MPO and FPO the top 2 ranked players in each division are the most enticing heads up battles to watch. For MPO, that’s #1 Calvin Heimburg against #2 Ricky Wysocki. In the past 5 years, Ricky has averaged a finishing place of 2.6 at Ledgestone. He is the 3x defending champ of the tournament. The last time Ricky finished worse than 1st place at Ledgestone was 2019, when he took 2nd. Then there’s the #1 ranked player in the world, Calvin Heimburg who also took 1st at 2021, during an event cut short. In the past 5 years, Calvin has averaged 17th place at Ledgestone. This season, so far Calvin’s worst finish is 16th place, at Champion’s Cup. In his last 3 Elite and Major events (E/M), Calvin is averaging 3rd place. In his last 5 E/M, better than 3rd place. The heads up battle over the last 3 E/M events: At European Open (Major), Calvin finished 4th to Ricky’s 6th. At PCS Open (Elite), Calvin took 3rd to Ricky’s 5th. Last time Calvin lost to Ricky was at the Preserve Championship (Elite), when Calvin took 2nd. And lost.
For FPO, without Tattar playing, Ohn Scoggins and Missy Gannon become the best FPO players in the world galaxy. Their event ranking is #1 and #2 respectively, though they are virtually tied. Ohn’s last 3 E/M avg is 2.3, 2nd only to Tattar at 1.3. Missy is in 3rd, averaging 3rd place in her last 3. Ohn is coming off a hard fought win at MAO (Silver) event. She was down 7 strokes after round 1 (of 3) and beat Alexis Mandujano on the 18th hole, final round. Missy is defending champ of Ledgestone with event average of 5.8, playing all 5 times in past 5 years. Ohn took 2nd in 2022, losing by 6 strokes. So far in 2023, Missy has yet to take 1st place.
FPO Players to Watch
Last time I did a player’s to watch article on SkipAce, Robert Burridge was highlighted as the player to watch for DMC. He had an event ranking of 26th, and finished DMC in a tie for 26th place. I don’t say that to brag, as the previous article was half about why Burridge is so enticing heading into that Elite event. It’s not easy making predictions. Though it is fun to entertain them.
For Ledgestone 2023, Lisa Fajkus is the player to watch. Why she’s easy to overlook: in her last 3 E/M, she’s averaging 23rd place. Her best finish in any Elite event this season is 11th place. Why she’s super enticing heading into Ledgestone: She took 3rd and 4th place in the 2 recent Silver events, easily beating her event ranking in both. At Ledgestone in past 5 years, she’s played 4 of 5, and averaged 5.3 place. Her worst finish is 7th in that time frame. In 2022, she tied Paige Pierce and Kristin Tattar for 3rd place.
Alexis Mandujano is next player to watch for FPO. Finishing one spot ahead of Lisa at MAO, and 1 spot behind winner, Ohn Scoggins. She’s played Ledgestone the past 3 years, averaging just over 9th place. She comes in with an event ranking of 14th, one better than Lisa’s 15th ranking for Ledgestone.
Next up is Holly Finley who just took 7th at MAO and has event ranking of 21st at Ledgestone. She’s played the event 5 of the last 5 years, averaging 13th place. Her worst finish is 19th, and her 2nd worst is 13th place.
Finally for FPO is Madison Walker, with an event ranking of 27th. She’s averaging 18th place in her last 3 E/M. Her best Elite finish in 2023 is 12th place. In the past 5 years, she’s played Ledgestone 4 times, averaging 10th place. Her worst finish was 12th in 2021, and her best was 7th, in 2022.
MPO Players to Watch
All MPO players listed here have played Ledgestone 5 of the past 5 years. None are currently ranked in the top 15 standard rankings, according to Art’s Fudge (and most ranking services).
Corey Ellis isn’t slipping under anyone’s radar after winning the European Open. A gigantic victory that carries momentum, confidence. Yet Corey is averaging 56th place at Ledgestone in the past 5 years. Including 133rd place in 2021, and no he didn’t DNF. But his victory at European Open, alone makes him enticing. Plus his last 3 E/M avg is 18th place, and he took 5th last year at Ledgestone. His event rank is 15.
Kevin Jones is always a player to watch. In 2023, his struggles are real, yet his historic averages at Elite events remains fantastic. His last 5 at Ledgestone, he’s averaging 7.4 place. His worst finish is 12th place, done in 2021 and 2022. After that, his 3rd worst (or 3rd best) is 5th place, in 2020. His event ranking is 28th. Here’s hoping he gets top 5.
Double G aka Garrett Gurthie finished 44th at the European Open. He gets event ranking of 21st, and a standard ranking of 27th by Art, which is better than his UDisc rank of 31st, and his 30th place in the DGPT standings. That being said, there’s much reason for optimism when his 5 year average at Legestone is 12.6. His worst of the 5 is 22nd place. Which means 4 of the 5 are top 20 finishes, and twice he’s finished top 10.
