2019 Mid America Open | Final RD, F9, MPO | Keith, Johnson, Freeman, Rathbun

hello everybody and welcome back to the round three coverage of the 2019 Mid America open presented by disc craft the world leader in disc sports this is the front nine of this final round I'm Brian Earhart again joined here by Nate Perkins how's going buddy and it's going great great Brian it's been an absolute pleasure to commentate on this video with you thank you to you disc live for providing us with stats thank you to disk craft for sponsoring the event and thank you to gk pro for making it out here yesterday we saw emerson keith light up the course and Zach Johnson also had a fire round also tying the course record and bumping himself up onto the lead card along with Joel Freeman and Gavin Rathbun once again yeah it's great to see Zach on this lead card he is actually one of the locals of this course and actually puts a lot of time into the course maintenance I've mentioned this previously but both times that I've come here recreationally I've seen him out here doing a bunch of different work around the course so it's gonna be great to see his awesome forehand go to work out here hole one has presented quite a few problems to the players this week and what a starting hole we do have 833 feet ob Creek all the way through the fairway and let's see if ever since eighth can keep that fire going that he's had past couple of rounds he's been putting out of his mind absolutely and he's gonna have to today with Zach and Joel right behind him four strokes behind in only five in front of Gavin sneaks that hyzer flip over the water and I'm not sure if he's got an open look looked like he was pinched up against that tree but we'll see where he's at and here is the local boy Zach Johnson and Zach recently made the switch back to an eva and i know that he has been so stoked how his destroyers rocks t-birds and fire birds have all been flying oh its jazzed about it absolutely after clipping some cabbage I'm not sure if you went out of bounds on that one but it is definitely doable on this hole if you're going over the creek and Joel Freeman it on this lead card has a very interesting it's not necessarily a mixed bag but he does have some millennium and he does have some infinite discs alongside of his in about his bag yeah that's millennium right there that's a that's a Scorpius and he catches some cabbage early and I think it shoots him down right before the creek so he still should be good and then we have the bomber from Illinois Gavin Rathbun yet again gets a nice turn out of it misses the trees on the left and he is in prime position that looks great that had some nice turn on it yeah Joel I would say has one of the top 10 sidearms in our game right now when it comes to especially like the the distance flex sidearm he throws a mile with that forehand yeah that's saying a lot but hard to argue he he's really consistent and has 400 feet of power yeah absolutely Zach I think trying to go with the forehand roller and yeah Clips a tree probably gonna have to lay up for that par and we saw yesterday just how good this kid's forehand is and he just has it's just moving so so forward in the flight little super low yeah on this course that flex sidearm is gonna be extremely helpful absolutely Gavin in the prime position for a birdie a couple of great shots and now he has a little putter Heiser to the basket couldn't quite tell if Zach was going for the green right there he had to have been laying that one up short yeah that cliff right definitely so this is actually Joel's signature disc it's a color Glo whale premium plastic putter yeah it's fun to watch him play B just because he's throwing such unorthodox discs and he's kind of like a Garrett girthy in that regard always brings out some new mould that we haven't really heard too much of tricky little lie he had over there and he found a small gap inside circle 1 ooh Gavin showing a little bit of finesse definitely some touch on that's a hard job for the birdie awesome Burnie from Joel as well this hole is not easily birdie Abel no it's such a monster hole to start your round out I mean it place 3/4 of a stroke over par yeah it's very challenging and taking a 5 on this is really not that bad and Emerson taking a Loki birdie as well clean shot across the creek simple upshot to the tip of the fairway and all smiles from the newly-married emerson key congratulations emerson a child on the way some congratulations in hole number two this hole up we have not been seen a lot of birdies on this one this is a very tight fairway sneaking to the right and then again we've mentioned it multiple times this pin position tucked way back through this tunnel OB all down the right side really just giving yourself some sort of look to get down this corridor on the second shot is what you want to do here such a scenic hole never sinned look like he's lining up that left gap forehand yeah this is great man we're gonna we're in for another forehand clinic during this final round flares it a little bit to write almost nails the cameraman maybe he was going for yeah alright getting another angle at it nice dodge there man it's a it was a good Drive but did you see that angle hmm a little bit out of position unless he wants to juice a sidearm flex and joel being very for hand dominant it's going aggressive roller on this one and he is caught up in the right side of the fairway off then yeah Gavin rounds the corner with that forehand he's if you want stick from there yeah pretty far away you want to cover more ground than that but we do know that Gavin is no stranger to throwing far looks like Zach wanted to get a little bit of flex on that one and kind of scooped it off the tee out of position but again a four is gonna be pretty solid on this number roller forehand roller respect that's just that's just what happens in the woods man yeah I mean we saw that that putter over hand during round one and that's just you got to get creative you have to be creative in some of these approach shots oh and he's going for this this is such a sick line if he can execute this one oh my gosh just showing you how challenging the approach to basket is we thought that was perfect and just skips OB hopefully he has a putt at the circle for there yeah you can see right there if you if you don't round the corner or if you go too far you're you're not in a good position to attack this one both Zach and Emerson are laying up oh this is a tough position right here he's gonna have to come really close to his body to avoid that wide tree and whenever he wasn't through did he just kick out of bounds it kind of looked like he did and that was believed that was a TL that he tried to flip up right there is a cone with a backhand right side that's got a phaser couldn't quite eyes from where doesn't look good unfortunately Oh is he and as Emerson throws this touch up shot here I wanted to say the reason I was mentioning that Joel had such a solid forehand and so highly regarded thee amongst the rest of the touring players is because of things like what he just tried doing with the TL he flicks those whales really well as well as those long flexes and he my god this one full commitment on the straddle jumper right in the heart how was a par save from where he was at roller thumber roller TL flick jump putt that is a confidence booster right there absolutely yeah to not lose one the leader Everson with a textbook par and Zach was out of bounds unfortunately as was Gavin I believe moving on to hole number three we've mentioned it a couple times this green that the players are trying to attack off a tee is very daunting to the point where they're not even trying to park the hole looks like the players have been trying to play high side of this basket yeah this is a pretty fast green and a tight fairway the entire length of the hole and it looks like the actual route to park the basket is some sort of flex but you're seeing a lot of players just say you know no thanks to that and trying to throw some sort of Heiser off left Everson got the birdie yesterday with that same line a little bit more conservative and still gives them the opportunity to make a death but that got away from him a little bit but it looks like it's still going yeah it sure is a blessing from the disc golf gods on that one for sure but he's about same place as he was yesterday it looks like it's that same whale that Joel's reaching for and that's a that's a beaded putter correct yes pretty straight pretty clydie putter Joel's trying to show you the exact flight right here look at that he splits it oh did he touch the pole looks like he might have clipped it a little bit but yeah dead straight at it that was a great shot absolutely and he knows it that it probably went a little long oh man not a great reaction off that tree and if you're kicking right that is way down there he knows it in a similar mistake - what Niko did yesterday a little bit too early of a release pops out to the left but again staying on top of the hill is totally fine Gavin on the other hand has to scramble yeah you know it's bad when you can't even see the yeah air when the cameraman decides it it's just it's too daunting of a task to walk down there and even this is tricky we've seen these discs mm hop up and roll here on this green and Zack gets a nice little clip from a branch and sits down at about 15 and Gavin still at the bottom of a hill oh no that was help that was dirty let's see if he can get this this spin putt dialed again Brian okay and the putting clinic continues everybody get your notebooks out folks because he is still in teaching mode great putt from Emerson and great birdie and a little fist bump love from Joel Oh Joel Ben go too deep at all all right and he's keeping pace and a fun bit of information about Joel's putters going along with the unorthodox disc selections he is putting with his new signature scarab which is a putter from infinite it is similar to a whale in feel but Joel says it has the perfect feel for how he grips a putter all right Infinite's doing some some pretty big things a lot of yeah a lot of new things and their lineup and we are gonna move straight into hole number four here a great downhill par three forcing the players to throw a very subtle hyzer flip at the backhand yeah this is the first hole during round three though played under par there's point O five strokes under par even at 288 feet it's still pretty tight definitely tight and you have to keep the disclose or gonna risk high xoring out at the end so a very very interesting technical line these players are having to throw here I think Emerson throwing a putter here or a mid range believe that's a mid range just misses that big tree in the right side a little bit of a long look but still not out of his range as we've seen Oh caught a little bit of cabbage he's gonna be about a hundred feet short all right we got a tomahawk coming from Zach fast shot right on line just a little deep and as Zach would call it that is a whammy Hawk straight out at the Zach Johnson handbook oh man we really love Zach with a homey Gavin almost nails the line and Clips that tree in the right side still puts that approach a little bit short and even that leaks out to 28 feet he's gonna have that left for par you think Emerson's running this one absolutely it's like he's lining it up looks like a bit of a safer Ron he wanted to stall it outright and potentially have it fall into the basket zach has really been working on this putt he's been releasing with a little more hyzer than the normal and man he was putting great at Idyllwild yeah oh absolutely he was that one clipped a little bit too far left on the chains Emerson cash is the comebacker yeah I mean that was 25 feet definitely a nerve wrecker and he still has not bogeyed in this tournament that's with how what did this course is it's kind of crazy to even think about yeah I don't think anyone's really considering going bogey-free for the whole event no great putt from Joel yet you know a 288 foot par-3 you'd assume that at least one person on a lead card of that tournament would get it but very challenging line that it's making them throw starpower from our card and we're gonna move into hole number five and this one we've seen a lot of different plays in this hole yeah we sure have the goal is to get up on this second tier even third tier really you want to be just past this little berm yeah you want to play it as pretty much as aggressive of a tee shot as possible from what we're seeing from this drone flight the approach to the green it kind of looks like a crazy flex shot so the farther and more right that you can go up this fairway the better yeah and we've seen that access to this green is only available from an hi to the lefty exactly so that's why the flex line or just playing for some sort of circle to putt has been kind of the common theme here so here's that recoil from Emerson and I'm not sure if he's trying to Heiser flip it or he does want to be left as multiple times we've seen him push that disc right to left yeah I would guess that he's missing it a little bit that he wants a little more turn a little bit more turn and it is challenging to do that when you're throwing that farm uphill Joel's reaching for a big forehand here that's a destroyer that's prime position it looks like he should have almost that identical flex line to the basket and this is a destroyer from Zach just misses that first tree bit of a misfire there yeah definitely got the hips through a little bit too early and pushed it more left than he wanted but he still didn't get up to that first year we saw Gavin absolutely bomb one yesterday fought through and he's up there but those tiny trees in the middle might be hindering his look at the basket we gone roller here is this another tomahawk oh whoa that's a different shot I'm guessing yeah so Zach threw his tomahawk into the ground not quite sure who's I think this is Emerson shot yeah so I believe that that previous clip was Emerson's flight towards the end so pretty solid positioning from Emerson well it looks like Joe is just a little pinched this is a really difficult lie right here to throw a forehand with power when your hips are already opened like that okay that's all just rotation all upper body yeah and he smashed it that'll be definitely a look at the basket great shot and be a little tricky this is Scott with her skater right here he really loves the overstable approach yeah well done yeah solid shot from Zack and Emerson for I believe this is for a three oh my god he is not making it easy on the rest of this card no he's taking early strokes here he's up five after five another great putt from Joel to keep pace okay scratch that he's only up for Joel not giving up without a fight it's a great birdie from the front side of the green right there oh yeah flex four hands straddle forehand jump putt it's a great birdie sequence and Zach Johnson after kind of messing up a tomahawk there gets his par Gavin will be doing the same in hole number six we've been seeing a very similar series of shots on this hole I feel like the mistake being made is a lot of the shots are going a little bit too far forward they're not getting that left push that they're supposed to have to get to the basket I really really love this pin position that this holes been creating for the players yeah only 330 feet but it's nearly 90 degrees and when you have a turn that sharp from right to left it you can't necessarily rely on an overstable disc to get there I mean actually you have to get something going left right away and putting it on Heiser rather than throwing it flat letting it finish itself so Iverson I'm assuming has an explorer to try to match that shape yeah this is his signature Explorer and it's actually pretty stable oh and that was that was definitely a little early tiny bit too early almost was the line he needed to push it forward just a tiny bit more might be a TL in his hands think that was actually a fire word I think he's going so he was trying to play the flare that overstable flare yeah this is also a Firebird from Zack this is one of those 12-time opaque FA FS he's also going for the over stable play and that's really where they've been ending up right there when they go to straight and we've seen that there's there's not a lot going on down there Gavin also picking a Firebird to throw here yeah that's a fine line and when you want to push it inside like that you definitely risk hitting those early trees but when he's left with a lot he's gonna be outside of circle one putting for par Emerson just laying that one up Zack giving it a decent floater this is for par ooh good bid just right on the cage he didn't like it right out of his hands and we didn't know yeah and this hole is causing some troubles off the tee we're not seeing a lot of birdies on this hole and Joel Freeman happenin a bogey he's gonna be given one up on an unforced error and moving back to five behind Emerson Zach and Gavin are both six back if there's one player that can get this hole on this card it's gonna be Joel 510 feet downhill slightly to the right if you do have that giant flex sidearm it's definitely an accessible green but a lot of the players here have been playing it for a three we'll see if we'll see a couple aggressive plays here you want to guess how many birdies birdie two's on this one how many birdie twos did we have during round three Brown I'm gonna guess three I won't spoil it for you guys and it almost put the white tree and actually completely misspoke Zach is actually eight back and Gavin is 12 back Emerson is really pulling away here yeah his putting has been creating a real bit of trouble for the rest of these players there's that Monster Energy destroyer that Zach loves to forehand oh-ho and it does actually split the wide gap but it does get kind of pushed nose down and wasn't able to finish back to the right I really wanted to see how that one was gonna fly and I believe this is one of his infinite destinies throwing my sure if it's a pharaoh or Scorpius throws the line well that you could tell he wasn't happy with it a little bit too low yeah that is a ferrule the metal flake ferrule I believe that's like a 13 speed glide a disc he uses it for those long flex sidearms yeah Joe called it a cross between a boss and a strike he was a straight-up boss from Gavin look how far he's reaching back on that forehand it's it's almost looks like a pitcher when he's yeah he's thrown that yeah that's what it's reminding me of he's got about 200 a basket here that is a gorgeous hyzer flip from gavin very smooth puts it within 20 feet stiletto from Emerson also about 200 out is a stiletto was it that justice that he had I think that that was this that was a stiletto any closer and he would probably opt for the justice so definitely yeah Joel loves to try and throw these in actually on these these four hands he's gonna do a little a little baby Annie and it's similar to what we saw yesterday with Alex Russell doing like they're just a pure Heiser with the pig he likes to try and throw that whale in on the soft Danny I have seen Joel on multiple occasions doing straight up putter forehand throw in practice it is a real thing that he pray he practices yeah it's just that's not very common not a bad way to sell whales very nice-looking putt yeah it's a great up-and-down from Gavin going power forehand and throwing a really mature looking you know slow hyzer flip putter to the basket yeah so as these players tap in there pars we had only two birdies on hole seven during this final round shout out to Jay clobber and Jeremy Farnsworth and you know what one of the players I thought would get that hole is Jay clobber that big for one of the biggest items I've ever seen moving into hole number eight giant sidearm does not help you on this hole we are looking straight at the basket right uphill and you can really throw anything you want just do to the backstop that we have right behind the basket I would say these players are trying to ace this one yeah definitely this is playing on as the easiest hole on the course a half stroke under par we've seen a couple a Strunz actually we've seen a couple metal hits this is Emerson's justice and you can tell just by the line emerson throwing he's not running the ACE here he loves birdies and he's gonna keep chasing him throwing a nice low soft landing justice Zack on the other hand might be out for blood here he's about 25 left the basket playing such a big tournament on your home course does present its own mental challenge for sure do you play so many casual rounds out there it's a different kind of pressure and this is Joel's baby right here that baby blue Gator three he really loves that thing actually just helped him look for that thing until where the story I lost it for quite some time got it back and it's a little bit seasoned for him as well Gavin going Flair here great shot it works everything just kind of funnels toward this basket exactly and there's that Heiser putt from Zack ton of confidence with that yeah a little smirk on his face he's feeling good great Brady from Emerson yeah it's really great to see Emerson Zack on this card there look at I'm cheering for each other there they're really good friends they actually tore together quite a bit I believe they're traveling with each other right now so it's just really cool to see through home he's making on the lead card final round of an eighth year there's really nothing like playing with one of your good friends especially on the top card get in film that just kinda ease the tension quite a bit yeah absolutely and Zack number said it played so many rounds together exam in the woods in Texas they the definitely root for each other and going to hole number nine we watched Gavin yesterday absolutely pure the Eagle that is not an easy task on this hole we have a kind of a double double fairway players have to choose a wide hyzer or aggressive straight shot and then we have to choose a right or a left gap to get down to this really challenging downhill green with a slope right behind the basket this this hole is epic this is what I think of when I think apart many bends right here absolutely and the double double fairway is such a John Howe specialty when it comes to course design and we see quite a few of those on this course I just love that I love the options that it presents and gives the players and rewards different play styles as well ever since going left gap oh and he hit the first tree and it actually redirected pretty fortunately to say an antiquated kick yeah looks like Zack is lining up the Heiser Oh super over stable I believe that's that metal flake destroyer one of those pop top mutant destroyers yeah that didn't want to fly whatsoever oh but I think playing a flair to the middle on that right side is totally a doable play and now here's a look at a at a birdie and Joel wants a three that is smashed Wow way up there and he's got a flex forehand he's definitely in a great position Gavin hoping his follow suit from yesterday he's got that same white disc in his hands I believe that's a destroyer oh and that's a misfire that's the left-side decent kick though yeah he's also in the fairway Iverson going left gap a little bit early but it's flaring through the trees and it looks like it's right in the middle of that section he'll have to get a little bit creative to get to the basket he's so scrappy super scrappy you know when you have a very competent backhand in a very competent forehand with lots of different angles you're able to throw all sorts of weird shots out of the rough and he gets ton of power with like not a lot of movement yep Zakia shut down by that tree up there okay so Joel actually is not gonna go wide he's gonna try and flip this one up straight well he went like over stable Gator how far was his drive he smoked they had nothing he's way up there I mean now he's pin-high for an eagle look yeah Wow I'm stunned I didn't realize that he was within gaiter forehand range oh and zakat and super so local love there I believe that's a heart right there definitely flew like one yeah faded off a little bit to the right but again pin-high Wow Gaveston really showing he's got a really complete shot Arsenal he's got a hyzer flip back hand he's got distance backhand for Eagle ah right side side similar position for Emerson I'm not even surprised at this point I'm not even gonna say nice birdie for Emerson because they keep coming you know what I'll say it nice birdie from yeah great birdie I mean to not lose a stroke to Joel I mean that was a big shift right there they were putting from similar positions for Joel was putting for Eagle Emerson for birdie Joel mrs. Emerson makes his yeah it's it's you know it's a strong sign of confidence coming from Emerson he's not affected by anything the rest of his cards doing and he's keeping that five stroke lead after the front nine and thank you so much for joining us for that front nine coverage we are going to be right back with the final back nine on this awesome awesome tournament yeah this has been great man it's been an absolute pleasure to commentate with you make sure to subscribe to gk pro and we will see you soon you