2019 Mid America Open | Final RD, B9, MPO | Keith, Johnson, Freeman, Rathbun

and welcome back everybody to the conclusion of the 2019 Mid America open presented by disk craft the world leader in disc sports this is the back nine of Round three I'm Brian Earhart joined again by Nate Perkins this has been a real treat to watch it absolutely has and thank you to everyone for tuning in gk pro just hit 10,000 subscribers on youtube it's just a bunch of dudes from oklahoma who love disc golf and they are working for next to nothing to bring you guys this footage so thank you so much for subscribing liking and commenting on all these disc golf videos yeah if you're just watching this now and you haven't yet subscribed to them please do we need as many production companies as possible getting into this sport and giving us this awesome coverage moving into hole number 10 one of the most scenic holes in the course double-double fairway again we have left gap bright gap we have aggressive plays we have safe plays off the tee and then we have multiple routes to get to this basket on this par 5 yeah we've got Eagle opportunity here as well back to back par-5 Eagle opportunities yeah really cool and we're gonna see this hole played quite a few different ways especially with our card it's been a real treat to watch these guys Joel Freeman Emerson Keith Zack Johnson and Gavin Rathbun and Emerson has been on fire still yeah he's in control he's got five strokes with nine holes to go and he hasn't bogeyed yet so I don't see him making any mistakes really and we'll see this back nine isn't is very challenging and we have so many talented players here that are ready to chase him down so let's see where Emerson goes with this this is his orange defender he's been flexing this one for days it's a nice safe play too it's a great way if you're looking to get a birdie put it in the middle of the fairway and kind of work your way down there from there I could watch this guy throw four hands all day as well yeah Zac another guy with one look at that longest side arms and disc golf and unfortunately clips that tree on the left side yeah zach has thrown some of the most impressive shots that I've ever seen in person on a forehead absolutely yeah oh and this is that's what I was talking about there's definitely this line and I've got the camera work dude he found the disc yeah really quick it's like a watching the golf chance I know I'm showing the ball in the air he did fade out a little bit to the to the left and he might have some sort of stretch out but we will see in contrary to what we would have expected from Gavin he is playing a very solid straight shot that is huge Wow he's gonna have that inside gap absolutely it looks like Emerson's right lining up the roller here we saw him try this yesterday from the same spot - actually this looks a little better if it can get past those oh my good definitely does that my goodness that's the correction he needed to make from yesterday and he's right up there with a pretty they are still hunting on the hole Emerson very rude and this looks like a forehand roller it is this is some country boy disc golf right here and Zach is known for throwing some huge forhead rollers huge tomahawks and fun fact he's told me he's never been injured throwing that many sidearms he's never even really felt pain so we were all very jealous of you Zach he goes pretty hard too he throws real hard real aggressive and he plays a lot of disc golf tons he's one of the road warriors that no one really knows about please check out Zach's PDG a page that dude plays 40 to 50 tournaments a year maybe taking a little bit of time off recently but well speaking of a lot of tournaments the Emerson played 70 tournaments in one year yeah fun fact very fun fence the all-time leader yeah yeah he set the record yes 70 tournaments in one year is absolutely outrageous Joel gets caught up a little bit short might have some sort of circle one or circle to putt I just loved a little swing that zach has sometimes I liked it I like to believe that I'm trying to do that at myself but I just like the way that he swings to this right next to his body but yeah he throws that forehand and that's probably just a nice mental anchor for him it's routine a mental anchor I dig that something that kind of centers you and brings you back and yes inaudible similar to how Emerson looks at his feet right before he throws his forehand drive exactly and there was Joel trying to throw that whale in right into the basket there and a decent run from Gavin Zack had a little obstructed hyzer but but a respectable par regardless great birdie from Gavin after a bomb drive and as we were talking you know about Emerson playing you know 70 tournaments in one year you have to wonder how in the world is he doing that he actually in Texas they do a lot of I believe it's a flex start see tears that's right Friday so he'll do weekends where he plays three tournaments in one weekend absolutely and it's not even that many weeks in the year he is a road warrior and I mean he won probably 20 of those see tears and probably another 20 be tears in that same season including his first eight year win yeah I doubt Lexus outrageous competitive spirit and moving into hole number 11 this one has presented some challenges to these players 703 feet almost dead straight but really there's two different routes to get to the middle of the fairway to attack this basket you can shoot kind of a low laser beam straight with the backhand there is a left gap that a lot of sidearm players are taking and Emerson is gonna opt for the backhand here yeah he finds Oh spoke too soon we think it was past that tree already but he got a good reaction he's in the middle of fairway Gavin going hyzer flip at that destroyer man such a leaf flip he generates so many revs in the disc when he throws he really gets this to the hit point really really well and when he connects on what it's crazy how long it seems to stay straight how old is Gavin you know I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know I believe he's in his early 20s feel like he's like 21 or something yeah similar age to my younger brother who plays them a little bit more than I do Joel with a hyzer flip oh that got some late turn on it as well I think that was the same disc he threw on the par 5 hole mine and he was trying to get that to flex out to the right yeah that's that destroyer is he leaning up a roller he is and that stood up a little bit too quick just misses that tree yeah he's gonna have a little wall trees to deal with to access that green and what that OB right that's not a great place to be this looks like a swirly t-bird from Zach there's some velcro grass right there he's still about a hundred feet from the basket and Joel with his favorite type of shot believe this is a luster t-bird maybe teal yeah and that's the fun thing about Joel he flicks pretty much every disc in his bag which is really really unique you haven't gone with a stable Firebird here puts himself to about 25 30 feet and like you said Emerson's a little bit pinched behind this kind of bunker of trees is he going pure Heiser I think he's gonna play a flair always flipping that one up actually that was a I believe that was an explorer that got a pretty big skip there at the end Gavan running the birdie there he's gonna be about 5 feet for the tap-in par never simply could have a nice birdie as well her but not birdie par yeah another solid par save though and that confirmed that was a luster t-bird from Joel and a beautiful shot to get this close to the pain from that angle that he had yeah throw a flex shot with a medium stability disliked that definitely takes a lot of speed control cuz you're not necessarily yanking it over on that Anheuser you have to gently drift it left and then let this work back on its own to the right Zach's gonna pick up a par but yeah I do have a lot of respect for players that flick a large majority of the discs in their in their bag takes a lot of spin control to be able to do that a hole number 12 very as you can see low ceiling laser beam off the tee and Nate you had mentioned there's a tiny berm right in front of the basket that the players have to jump over yeah it's low ceiling but you need to keep it high enough to get over that if you don't want the 50 footer it's hard to even see it off the tee because you're really just seeing that the mound of the basket is on but it's it's cause for throwing a little bit faster distant you normally would here's that same t-bird that's early right with a good reaction yeah I'm in a fairway and were since going opto X Explorer this is his signature disc yeah solid release he's gonna be at the top of that just outside of circle one maybe a 45-footer bringing it way back flicking a I believe champion boss think he was trying to throw a low flex that maybe he skipped forward but pushed himself a little bit too far to the right Zach try to try to for the same line I just love all the different ways that people attempt to throw straight yeah it's it's crazy we saw nikola castro throw a wickedly overstable disc kind of backhand flex and this is how joel likes to throw straight he likes to like really flex stuff like that yeah he really does that was that same Gator 3 and maybe like the fifth or sixth roller that we've seen from Zach during this final round yeah he's a huge fan of throwing those kind of trick roller shots this is to save par ouch he's gonna be giving up another stroke potentially too right here if Emerson can make this from circle to shouldn't be too far behind the basket yeah those are pretty conservative bid they're not a nice putt waving to the fans and I could come back or for the bogey from Joel never something you want to have happen on especially a dead straight par-3 basket staring you down yeah another solid tester putt to once again save par definitely taking his time on those oh definitely you could tell he's very zone didn't mm-hmm not necessarily rattled but you know that you know he probably knows he hasn't bogey yet either oh he knows oh he knows like he's in savage he definitely knows where he's at and after a kind of a tough spread from the players no birdies there we're gonna move into hole number 13 one of the more interesting part fours in the course and we've seen even some of the best drives in the hole still not convert to birdies we have this really really strong defining tree that's been leaning over creates really challenging approach shot for the players yeah it certainly does you really need to get here or pass that laid down tree because of how much OB there is on the Left right here really makes this upshot tricky I mean that OB is only ten feet to the left and 15 to 20 feet behind the pin so we're gonna see Emerson he looks like he's throwing is that an explorer in his hand I believe so so he's going seven speed that's a core just left-to-right tracking shot and I as much as it's not as far as you were mentioning he now has an option to go over or under the tree branch but still that that limb is right where you want to throw the disc we saw him try yesterday was pinched a little bit too far this looks great though oh and he max the man doh he's crushed it it's not an actual man no but for real it's very challenging to get underneath that tree on the hell if epic would that be that'd be insanely difficult I would not play that hole anyway Zak trying the same line and looks like he's crushed as well doing Danakil Wow I mean nearly mirror image rollers right there beautiful shots from Gavin and Zak I'm guessing Joel's going ear shot here this is his flippy astir and flippy it is it's definitely tracking too far to the right and that I'd be out of bounds it's close can't quite tell based on his mark Emerson is going for the low forehand approach this is that glide II defender looks like he got a pretty good skip right there that was almost like he was skipping a rock across a creek that was super low to the ground and it's scary too because this ground actually has some patches of almost sand like material on the ground so the skip is not always as consistent as you'd like and there's some next-level commitment from Zack laying out on his stomach after that forehand yanked it a little bit too far to the left he should have a circle to look and joel is just trying to get up and down here yeah and really anything right here is pretty sketchy because it leaves you with a death putt yeah Joel puts himself to a pretty comfortable position yeah he just lays that one up with the Obi being so close and being up six yeah there's no reason for him to run that and not in a million years would he ever go for that Gavin might be going for this though Oh this inch or too low so he was out of bounds off the tee is gonna get up and down from that position for the bogey and he's gonna be losing a stroke to the leader and Emerson has a comfortable seven stroke lead and he's playing these holes pretty conservatively looks like he knows where he's at he's not trying to bite off too much hole 14 that was definitely a hole that can present some issues for some players there is OB behind the basket you're gonna see some four hands coming out here either the middle flex forehand route or if you want to play a wide higher highs or forehand a couple different ways to attack the screen but we did see some bogeys on this previously it's gonna be his stiletto baby flex line another low shot and no skip on that there's that velcro grass right before the basket it's patchy you know sometimes Repat you could get a good skip or you could catch the grass like that kind of gets shut down there and he'll have a pretty simple up-and-down for the par yeah this is that metal flake destroyer just check out how over stable this one really is he's gonna be going up the middle oh my gosh that thing does not want to fly oh my good man I think that went out of bounds unfortunately yeah that was fast shot and he went just a few feet farther than where ever since went and he got the flare that Emerson was kind of looking for and this is interesting Joel's actually going with a much slower distant anyone else on the card this is that Gator three oh and he's going real skinny whoa and I think that did that kick him out of bounds I know it looked like it was out of bounds and then it got a hot other reaction off the tree and a little pinball back into the fairway pretty fortunate yeah the place sorry Brian but I hate I hate to say it but oh wow it's a hundred footer right there but I was just about to say that the battle per second is kind of heating up yeah I'm Joel just made it a little bit tougher with that scarab going in the basket from about a hundred feet that was an amazing putt from Joel and there's almost seems like that's the first stroke gained on Emerson in quite some time beautiful putt from Zach - okay so looks like Zach went past the OB actually so he went deep the basket rather than right of the basket beautiful birdie putt whoa and that was the first missed putt we've seen it around and little of it ten footer yeah super uncharacteristic and actually death that's his first bogey of the tournament Brian I'm shocked right now ten feet yeah he laid that he laid that up but he didn't even run that initial putt Wow it's it's almost like you got your that there's something that bowlers talk about like when you get enough strikes in a row sometimes you wake up and you realize that in the up and then the pressure starts to build so he might have potentially had a moment of clarity like that and and just like that we I mean yeah Joel got to on that so he's he's within five it's it's not completely out of reach with with how tight this these final flows are absolutely and hole 15 is a par four that is not a gimme whatsoever you have to execute a very challenging tee shot we saw Nikola Castro throw one of the best rollers I've ever seen on this hole go back and check out the round one coverage if you want to see that but players are just trying to get up to a position to attack this uphill green big flex forehand from Zach just a little too much turn on that destroyer and Joel's gone with the high Heiser off to the right side doesn't push you as far forward but does give you the opportunity to get a birdie I think that's the scorpius again Joel sure - sure does turn turn away from the the line pretty early doesn't he he does and he's super lanky - so I think it's it's his way of utilizing his length he gets a lot of power behind the disc that was a sweet camera angle on that on that forehand from Gavin unfortunately he catches some of that patchy grass maybe we'll see another over-the-top attempt potentially yeah if there's any player that's gonna do it on this card it's him and Emerson hopefully getting back on the horse after that ruff bogie you know that could potentially take a little bit of stress off I know that he loses a stick and it sounds crazy but it might might take a little pressure off to to go bogey-free through the whole tournament oh definitely and he actually smashed that forehand he has a pretty open look at the basket it looks like four hand roller headed straight for the staircase so joel is gonna be pinching up taking a par that's a little early left I don't know what kind of angles you're left with him down there he might have to stretch out and throw one of his flippy er discs on a forehand zach is going Firebird right here he's gonna start this one out on pretty sharp Anheuser almost hits it clean and that's the one tree you want to miss in that fairway oh and look at that roll that was violent this looks like it's premium position right there oh and he throws just a clean Heiser all the way to circle one but look how far Emerson's for handling that's huge that was probably an angry forehand yeah missed putt I mean he's only 50 or 60 feet behind Niko's round one roller yep yeah with an air shot and he is right by the basket for a birdie look yeah and with Joel out of position just like that he's gonna tack on another one yeah and that definitely feels good so Joel actually looks like he doesn't have an angle and he's going just up this wall of brush and I'm not sure how he is right now and just like that gives him both back dude yeah that's like I had mentioned this hole is not a gimme birdie and then clearly not even a gimme par if you're out of position off the tee Gavin playing a little bit more textbook here snacks a great birdie and that feels good to get back and I know Emerson knows that he has decent-sized lead but just to take a bogey and lose two strokes in one hole it's nice to get those back yeah he's back to seven strokes the final three holes of this mid-america open a tier event he's feeling pretty good oh yeah and you know going into this next hole it's not too many kind of strokes wings are being had on this hole really there's one angle one gap you have to hit pretty generous yeah we've seen the Flex forehand probably the number one option on that right gap yeah it really matches the ground you know the slope of the fairway really well it's a lot more forgiving than having to throw a backhand turn over at this basket yeah that was a fire bird from Gavin and net that even hazard out pretty early and it's a pain high inside circle one I'm gonna be a little bit straighter disc here look maybe left gap no he's gonna go with the slow turn over to flat beautiful it's gonna the pole Oh almost does that's how it's chalked up to be played he wouldn't use a quiff a rainbow assortment of discs he's chosen the blue one he's their dad ever rainbow I think that's a Firebird it's like a little glow sexy bird oh and a very nice reaction to stay within 15 feet oh yeah and here's that same Gator you know he never found it yesterday at North Woods so he was thrilled to have it back we he did find it he got it back okay got it back and now he's back to throwing shots like that again the beautiful slow turn and Heiser's that flatten he was pretty worried about it we all kind of get to that point with a disc oh you have one time or another you know you've had in your bag for many years and after Gavin misses a putt unfortunately for birdie Emerson gets back on the birdie train and snags yet another one yeah that was a confident putt really fast putt right on the pole there's a little Nate Sexton putt there little pop out with that with the leg we have joel picking up a birdie as well yes Zach and Joel are definitely battling for the second place position Joel's got one stroke over Zach moving into hole 17 and this is an evil hole we have seen so many different shots get down to this basket and I think if the right shot just happens to miss all these trees down there I think we could see a definite putt for a for a two that would be epic we've seen it you know dead straight hyzer flips getting down there we've seen you know pop up sidearms get down there we've seen rollers get down there it's whatever you're comfortable hitting this strange uphill slightly right slightly straight gap and kind of scrapping almost idlewild desk scrapping to the basket yeah I can definitely see that anytime you're throwing uphill and then have to go back downhill in this same flight it gets pretty tricky and I like this play from Emerson a little bit straighter slower driver push it left and let it drift back and he's gonna have a nice hundred to 200 foot shot to the basket we're gonna see you have another forehand roller from Zack imagine he's gonna throw this one pretty hard oh yeah full speed ahead on that one oh and it looked like it got slowed down it was on the perfect angle and it's still getting all the way down there and you can tell with the line that he threw you know he's gotten it a couple times he was probably more fun being the local here he probably asked me and I would love to see that in person and this is the line that I figured Joel was in Rouen that is cooking Wow and a great reaction off the tree that's a fantastic shot from Joel he's 150 feet to the basket everyone's throwing all these fancy shots and Gavin's throwing one line dead straight and just happened to the clip something in the middle of the fairway that's the weird thing about this hole that's why I you know some of these scrappy rollers were seeing not too shabby of an option Wow he juiced that thing that was a beautiful shot I mean it just flexed out a little too much at the end got a little bit of air underneath it for sure oh that was uncharacteristic he's gonna have to jump out this one give it a look Wow Jane height right there not bad Joel for Eagle you know he wants this one yeah looked more more than more of a lay up yeah underneath the bucket Zach a little more level with the pan I can't tell ya he also is just gonna be laying this one up as is Gavin and Joel for a birdie three and you know at this point Joel might know that you know Emerson has a huge sizeable lead on him and he might just be trying to play conservative and protect that second place spot you never know what the next card behind him is doing yeah Emerson just didn't really leave these guys a lot of room I mean he shot the course record yesterday at 8 down and it's actually seven down today through 17 holes so I mean he pretty much showed up to to win this one today and on this one you know hole 18 as much as he does have a sizable lead anything can happen on this we've seen 9s 10s 11s we've seen huge numbers on this hole before and really their first job is just put this one in play and see how they can maneuver the fairway from there yeah this is such an awesome finishing hole definitely plenty of room for stroke swings it's such a scenic almost a picture-perfect finishing hole for this course sums up the course in a nutshell and a lot of awesome camaraderie great dudes in this card Zach with a good-looking forehand up the gap whoever Hey else at work yeah well sex do make great hacky sacks though they absolutely do jewelry setting after having to switch sports from hacky sack to disc golf same luster t-bird oh this has a great bite to it it's almost got to sit down yeah he almost threw a 2l and he goes out of bounds Wow it's the Creek battle for a second is definitely heating up now and ever since wants to put this in play going with that believe it's gonna be a defender yeah he's been throwing this thing great these past two that's got a flag and he's dropped out of bounds being a par-5 there's still opportunity to get up and down for par even if you do go out of bounds on your first shot absolutely it's definitely a decision depending on your lie do you get aggressive off that second shot alright getting to look at the gallery here in Missouri thank you guys for showing up and watching this final round beautiful placement shot here that's that's exactly what you want to see yeah he's gonna give him a high and there's just so many trees so many trees and so many flags throughout this fairway I thought he had the window but he might be a little pinched right there Zacks going with another safe sidearm playing to the high side and even though he did hit something it's still not a bad play he still has a look at the basket joël looking to line something up pretty big he's going Anheuser with that Scorpius no sharp oh no he's found the Obi again and he went out pretty early didn't he yeah he was pretty straight on from where Gavin was at Gavin just smoked a sidearm that's huge thanks Ben congratulations to Gavin for making this lead card final round and showing up and playing some good golf these these past two days oh yeah I think he's actually gonna be on tour for the rest this season from what I remember so it's gonna be great to see more of him out there awesome and that's actually a dis mania CD too from Joel so I'm throw it a couple times this is a stiletto this is to get up and down for par correct I believe so super tight gap that he had hit crazy that he split it a nice little rear oh yes dude inside 20 feet he could have definitely played this whole tournament bogey free Brian yeah you know a ten foot putt was the only separator pretentious on my hours with with with this much OB and with just the shapes of these fairways that's really crazy I think that was Gavin is that Gavin's third shot yeah we'll find out pretty soon great way to finish from Joel finishing the bogey double OB but I think that putt actually mattered I think that one was to stay tied for second Zach's can be taken apart there so if Joel misses that Zach takes solo second Joel takes third so that put a little bit of money in his pocket right there yeah absolutely okay so Gavin taps him for a par which is very respectable here is Emerson Keith as long as he does an eight but he is probably gonna take this down a right beautiful putt to seal the deal congratulations to the young gun from Texas Emerson Keith Zach Johnson coming up showing him some love this is his second eight-year victory after all those tournaments that he's played he's been lead card on so many big stages yeah he definitely has what it takes to to play at the elite level Oh hands down he's top talent in the game and he just put on an absolute cutting clinic for us and just great to watch these players play harmony bends and make sure again that you subscribed GK Pro thank you so much for giving us this awesome coverage Nate any closing words Emerson 1x7 that is hard to do nowadays yes it is what a huge win for the kid and thank you guys so much for tuning in make sure you subscribe to GK Pro we will catch you next time