Last modified: September 7, 2026
Gannon Buhr holds a commanding lead in the latest published MPO points race, while Holyn Handley sits narrowly ahead of Silva Saarinen and Ohn Scoggins in FPO.
In this article
At the most recent Elite Series tournament, the 2026 Discmania Challenge, Evan Smith delivered an eight-stroke MPO victory and Ella Hansen held off Kat Mertsch by one in FPO. Those results were not yet incorporated into the latest fully verifiable DGPT World Standings table when this article was prepared, but both performances could have a meaningful effect when the official points are refreshed.
A terminology note matters here. Fans frequently search for “PDGA Standings,” but professional disc golf has several different measurement systems. This update uses the latest published DGPT World Standings for the season-long points tables, then separately explains the PDGA World Rankings, PDGA Player of the Year points, and PDGA Player Ratings.
What are the PDGA standings?
The Professional Disc Golf Association, better known as the PDGA, is the international governing body responsible for competition rules, tournament sanctioning, player memberships, event classifications, and player ratings.
MPO stands for Mixed Professional Open. Although it is often informally described as the men’s division, it is technically an open professional division.
FPO stands for Female Professional Open. It is the premier protected professional division for women.
When fans refer to the PDGA Standings or PDGA Points Standings, they may mean one of several different systems:
DGPT World Standings track results during the current Disc Golf Pro Tour season. Players earn points based on their finishing positions at eligible Elite Series events and PDGA Professional Majors. In 2026, a player can count points from a maximum of 14 finishes, with no more than 2,800 total points available from the Elite Series and Major stage. The standings help determine Tour Card status, season positioning, and qualification for the season-ending Powerball Cup.
Official PDGA World Rankings, sometimes called the PDGA Rankings or Disc Golf Rankings, measure performance over a rolling 104-week period. Recent results receive more weight, and higher-tier events are more valuable. Only Elite Series tournaments and PDGA Majors are included in the current formula, with Majors carrying the greatest weight.
PDGA Player of the Year points form another season-long race. These standings are based on an official PDGA points process and are updated weekly. As of the PDGA’s August 5 update, Gannon Buhr led MPO Player of the Year scoring and Ohn Scoggins led FPO.
PDGA Player Ratings are different from all three. A rating is a numerical estimate of a player’s demonstrated playing level, calculated from eligible rated rounds. It is not a season points total and is not determined by a player’s place in the DGPT standings.
The distinction is easiest to remember this way: DGPT standings reward results during the current tour season, PDGA World Rankings measure elite performance across two years, and PDGA ratings measure the quality of a player’s individual rated rounds.
All three matter, but for different reasons. The standings frame the season-long championship race. The rankings provide a broader picture of competitive strength. Ratings show how well a player is performing relative to the scoring conditions and rated competition in specific rounds.
Current MPO PDGA standings
The latest complete MPO points table that could be verified on the official DGPT standings page was published through the 2026 Discraft Ledgestone Open. These are formally the DGPT World Standings, although many fans encounter them through searches for MPO PDGA Standings.
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gannon Buhr | United States | 2,078 |
| 2 | Richard Wysocki | United States | 1,549 |
| 3 | Calvin Heimburg | United States | 1,519 |
| 4 | Isaac Robinson | United States | 1,346 |
| 5 | Adam Hammes | United States | 1,267 |
| 6 | Anthony Barela | United States | 1,172 |
| 7 | Sullivan Tipton | United States | 1,085 |
| 8 | Niklas Anttila | Finland | 1,048 |
| 9 | Luke Taylor | United States | 1,020 |
| 10 | Gavin Babcock | United States | 943 |
Buhr’s advantage was already enormous before the Discmania Challenge. His 2,078 points gave him a 529-point cushion over Wysocki, making the MPO race as much about Buhr protecting his lead as it was about the pursuers attempting to apply pressure.
The battle behind him was far tighter. Wysocki and Heimburg were separated by only 30 points, while Robinson and Hammes remained within reach of a significant late-season move. That creates two very different MPO stories: Buhr against the field at the top, and a congested fight for the positions immediately behind him.
Sullivan Tipton and Luke Taylor were among the most important upward trends in the latest verified rankings cycle. Tipton rose two places to No. 8 in the official PDGA World Rankings, while Taylor climbed five positions to No. 11 after winning Ledgestone.
Both reinforced that form in Iowa. Tipton placed fourth at the Discmania Challenge, and Taylor tied for sixth. Those are exactly the types of repeat high finishes that turn a midseason surge into a sustained run.
Evan Smith’s Discmania victory adds a new variable. He was outside the published DGPT points top 10 following Ledgestone, but an eight-stroke Elite Series win should significantly strengthen his season profile once the official standings update is posted. His victory also gave the MPO field another legitimate late-season threat at a time when Buhr had begun to separate himself from the pack.
Current FPO PDGA standings
The latest verifiable FPO DGPT World Standings were also published through the 2026 Discraft Ledgestone Open.
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holyn Handley | United States | 1,714 |
| 2 | Silva Saarinen | Finland | 1,695 |
| 3 | Ohn Scoggins | United States | 1,673 |
| 4 | Missy Gannon | United States | 1,519 |
| 5 | Ella Hansen | United States | 1,509 |
| 6 | Eveliina Salonen | Finland | 1,365 |
| 7 | Catrina Allen | United States | 1,170 |
| 8 | Kat Mertsch | United States | 1,101 |
| 9 | Henna Blomroos | Finland | 1,037 |
| 10 | Heidi Laine | Finland | 1,016 |
Unlike the MPO race, the fight for first in FPO was almost level. Handley led Saarinen by only 19 points and Scoggins by 41. Missy Gannon and Hansen were separated by just 10 points in fourth and fifth.
Discmania could reshape that order. Hansen won, Mertsch finished second, Allen placed third, and Handley came home eighth. Scoggins finished 10th, while Saarinen and Eveliina Salonen did not appear in the event’s FPO results.
Hansen therefore has a strong opportunity to move closer to the leading group. Mertsch and Allen should also benefit from podium performances, although exact post-event totals could not be verified at the time of publication.
The latest official PDGA World Rankings tell a related but distinct story. Saarinen remained No. 1 in the August 5 ranking, while Salonen moved to No. 2, Scoggins to No. 3, Handley to No. 4, and Missy Gannon remained fifth. Hansen had climbed one position to seventh.
That contrast illustrates why readers should not treat standings and rankings as interchangeable. Handley led the published DGPT season points, while Saarinen topped the PDGA’s rolling World Rankings. Ohn Scoggins, meanwhile, led the official PDGA Player of the Year race with 531 points as of August 5.
Results from the latest PDGA-sanctioned tournaments
2026 Discmania Challenge Presented by TruBank
The Discmania Challenge was held August 7 through August 9 at Pickard Park in Indianola, Iowa. The tournament was a PDGA-sanctioned Disc Golf Pro Tour Elite Series event with 166 total players and a reported professional purse of $101,998. The PDGA had received the event report when the results were checked, although official round ratings were still pending.
The weekend produced two very different victories. Smith ran away from the MPO field, while Hansen survived a one-stroke FPO finish against Mertsch.
MPO results
| Position | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evan Smith | -32 |
| T-2 | Gannon Buhr | -24 |
| T-2 | Austin Turner | -24 |
| 4 | Sullivan Tipton | -22 |
| 5 | Paul Krans | -21 |
| T-6 | Luke Taylor | -20 |
| T-6 | Niklas Anttila | -20 |
| T-6 | Evan Walker | -20 |
| T-6 | Calvin Heimburg | -20 |
| T-6 | Silas Schultz | -20 |
Source for all Discmania Challenge results: official PDGA event report.
Smith’s path to the title was built around a spectacular second round. His 49 was rated unofficially at 1107, and it turned a share of the opening-round lead into a margin the field could not overcome. He completed the tournament at 160 strokes, eight ahead of Buhr and Austin Turner.
The victory was Smith’s fourth win in 13 counted events in the PDGA’s August 5 Player of the Year listing, where he sat 10th with 119 points before Discmania. That combination of winning frequency and an Elite Series breakthrough makes him one of the most dangerous upward-trending MPO players.
Buhr’s runner-up finish was still valuable. Even without winning, he finished ahead of every other player in the published DGPT points top five except the absent or lower-placing contenders. Maintaining that level of consistency makes it difficult for the chasing group to reduce his lead.
Turner’s tie for second was one of the surprise results of the weekend. Tipton continued his rise with fourth, while Krans’ fifth-place finish added another young name to the late-season conversation.
The five-player tie for sixth was also notable. Taylor, Anttila, Walker, Heimburg, and Schultz all finished at 20-under, leaving a crowded leaderboard directly behind the top five.
FPO results
| Position | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ella Hansen | -18 |
| 2 | Kat Mertsch | -17 |
| 3 | Catrina Allen | -13 |
| T-4 | Heidi Laine | -11 |
| T-4 | Missy Gannon | -11 |
| T-6 | Emily Weatherman | -9 |
| T-6 | Valerie Mandujano | -9 |
| 8 | Holyn Handley | -8 |
| 9 | Rebecca Don | -7 |
| 10 | Ohn Scoggins | -6 |
Source for all Discmania Challenge results: official PDGA event report.
Hansen entered the final round with a cushion after rounds of 59 and 55, but Mertsch’s steady closing 62 turned the finish into a one-stroke battle. Hansen’s final-round 63 proved sufficient for a 177 total and the $7,506 first prize.
For the standings race, the result could be pivotal. Hansen was fifth in the latest published DGPT table, only 10 points behind Missy Gannon. Winning while Gannon tied for fourth should improve Hansen’s position once updated figures are officially released.
Mertsch also made a persuasive case for renewed contention. She entered the weekend eighth in points and finished only one stroke from the title. Allen’s third-place result strengthened her position after entering seventh in the standings.
Handley protected some value with an eighth-place finish, but the door was open for challengers because Saarinen was not in the event results and Scoggins placed 10th. The exact post-event order remains unverified until the DGPT publishes an updated points table.
2026 Discraft Ledgestone Open
The preceding elite tournament was the DGPT+ Ledgestone Open, held July 30 through August 2 in the Peoria, Illinois, area. Ledgestone featured 211 players and a combined professional purse of $150,000. As a DGPT+ event, it offered more World Standings points than a standard Elite Series stop.
Luke Taylor won MPO at 28-under by one stroke over Buhr. Eveliina Salonen won FPO at 21-under, eight strokes ahead of Hansen.
The official sources available at verification time exposed the full MPO top 10, but they did not expose a complete, independently checkable FPO top 10 in the retrieved event data. To avoid inventing placements, only the verified leading FPO results are included below.
MPO results
| Position | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke Taylor | -28 |
| 2 | Gannon Buhr | -27 |
| 3 | Sullivan Tipton | -23 |
| 4 | Adam Hammes | -17 |
| T-5 | Isaac Robinson | -16 |
| T-5 | Simon Lizotte | -16 |
| T-5 | Richard Wysocki | -16 |
| 8 | Jake Hebenheimer | -15 |
| T-9 | Zachary Nash | -14 |
| T-9 | Joel Freeman | -14 |
Taylor’s final-round 53 carried him past Buhr by one stroke and earned him $15,000 plus 200 DGPT points. Buhr received 166.67 points for second, while Tipton gained 153.33 for third.
That victory explains Taylor’s sudden appearance in the MPO points top 10 and his five-place jump in the PDGA World Rankings. Tipton’s podium helped him climb to seventh in the DGPT standings and eighth in the PDGA rankings.
FPO results
| Position | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eveliina Salonen | -21 |
| 2 | Ella Hansen | -13 |
| T-3 | Henna Blomroos | -11 |
| T-3 | Catrina Allen | -11 |
| 5 | Holyn Handley | -9 |
Salonen’s eight-stroke victory was one of the most decisive recent FPO results. It also helped move her to second in the August 5 PDGA World Rankings, directly behind Saarinen.
Hansen’s runner-up finish became even more significant after she followed it with a victory at Discmania. Across two consecutive elite events, she finished second and first, the clearest current example of an FPO player building sustained momentum.
The complete Ledgestone FPO positions six through 10 could not be verified from the official source data retrieved for this update, so they have not been estimated or reconstructed.
Learn more: Most popular discs of 2026
Biggest movers and players to watch
Ella Hansen has the strongest immediate FPO trend. A runner-up finish at Ledgestone followed by victory at Discmania gives her consecutive elite podiums. She was only 205 points behind Handley in the last published table, and her Iowa win should reduce that gap.
Evan Smith is the most obvious MPO riser. Winning by eight strokes against an Elite Series field is not a routine breakthrough. His 1107-rated unofficial second round was the defining performance of the latest tournament.
Sullivan Tipton has combined improvement in the rankings with repeated high finishes. He followed third at Ledgestone with fourth at Discmania and moved up two places to eighth in the August 5 PDGA World Rankings.
Luke Taylor has transformed the shape of his season. His Ledgestone win lifted him into the DGPT points top 10 and moved him five positions upward in the official World Rankings. A tie for sixth at Discmania showed that the breakthrough was not an isolated result.
Kat Mertsch is another player to watch. She was eighth in the latest FPO points standings and missed the Discmania title by one stroke. If she converts another contention week into a win, she could close quickly on the middle of the top 10.
Austin Turner and Paul Krans both exceeded broad pre-event expectations in Iowa. Turner tied Buhr for second, while Krans finished alone in fifth. Their performances added depth to an MPO field that is becoming increasingly difficult to predict beneath Buhr.
What’s next on the professional disc golf schedule?
The next DGPT event is the inaugural Doubles Championship at the Preserve, scheduled for August 14 through August 16 in Clearwater, Minnesota. It is the first DGPT Elite Series tournament to use a doubles format, with an adjusted points distribution for the DGPT World Standings.
The season then moves toward the 2026 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships, scheduled for August 26 through August 30 in Milford, Michigan. As a Professional Major, Worlds carries major competitive and historical importance, and Major results receive the highest weighting in the official PDGA World Rankings.
Worlds could be especially important in FPO, where the points race remains tightly compressed and the PDGA rankings feature several leading contenders within the top five. In MPO, the central question is whether Buhr can turn his standings lead and No. 1 world ranking into another Major title, or whether Wysocki, Heimburg, Robinson, Anttila, or an emerging challenger can interrupt his control of the season.
PDGA standings FAQ
Who leads the PDGA MPO standings?
Gannon Buhr leads the latest fully verifiable MPO DGPT World Standings with 2,078 points, 529 ahead of Richard Wysocki. These season points are commonly called the MPO PDGA Standings, although the official competition is the DGPT World Standings.
Buhr also holds the No. 1 position in the latest published official PDGA World Rankings and led the PDGA MPO Player of the Year race as of August 5.
Who leads the PDGA FPO standings?
Holyn Handley leads the latest fully verifiable FPO DGPT World Standings with 1,714 points. Silva Saarinen is second with 1,695, and Ohn Scoggins is third with 1,673.
Saarinen, however, is No. 1 in the official PDGA World Rankings, while Scoggins led the PDGA FPO Player of the Year standings as of August 5.
How do PDGA standings work?
In the DGPT World Standings, professional players earn points based on their finishing positions at eligible Elite Series events and PDGA Majors. For 2026, a player’s top 14 finishes can count toward a maximum of 2,800 points from the Elite Series and Major schedule.
The standings influence the season championship race and Tour Card qualification. DGPT+ tournaments award more points than standard Elite Series stops, while special formats can use an adjusted distribution.
What is the difference between PDGA standings and PDGA rating?
Standings measure season results. A player earns standings points by finishing highly at eligible tournaments.
A PDGA Player Rating estimates playing level based on scores recorded in eligible rated rounds. It does not measure season points, and a highly rated player does not automatically lead the standings.
The PDGA World Rankings are a third system. They consider Elite Series and Major results across the previous 104 weeks, with greater weight given to recent performances and higher-tier events.
Final thoughts
Gannon Buhr remains the central figure in the MPO race. His published points advantage is substantial, and another runner-up finish at Discmania reinforced his consistency even on a weekend when Smith was untouchable.
FPO is far less settled. Handley held the latest published points lead, but Saarinen and Scoggins were within 41 points before the Discmania Challenge. Hansen’s victory, combined with Mertsch’s runner-up result and Allen’s third-place finish, could alter the order when the next official table is released.
The most significant recent result belongs to Smith, whose eight-stroke victory announced him as more than an occasional contender. The most important broader trend, however, may be Hansen’s consecutive second-place and first-place finishes.
With the Doubles Championship and PDGA Pro Worlds ahead, the next stretch offers both unusual formats and the season’s biggest stage. Buhr has built separation in MPO, but the FPO standings are still open enough for one major weekend to change everything.
Sources
- Official PDGA Discmania Challenge results
- Official DGPT World Standings
- Official PDGA World Rankings
- PDGA World Rankings update for August 5, 2026
- 2026 PDGA Player and Rookie of the Year standings
- Official PDGA Ledgestone Open results
- Official DGPT Ledgestone Open event page
- Official Ledgestone Open results
- DGPT 2026 points structure
- Official 2026 PDGA Pro World Championships page
- Disc Golf Pro Tour schedule and upcoming events
Data verified on: August 13, 2026, at 11:37 a.m. Central European Summer Time, 5:37 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
