TL;DR: Paul McBeth has placed 2nd or better in the last 10 PDGA World Championships and 2nd or better at events held at Smugglers Notch from 2018-2021 (5th in 2022.)
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Check out our PDGA World Championship Course Preview of Smugglers Notch, Here and our Ricky Wysocki PDGA World’s preview, here.
Paul McBeth’s Worlds Dominance
Paul McBeth at the Disc Golf World Championships is like Nadal at Roland Garros or Tiger at the Masters. In fact, Paul is so good when playing at the PDGA World Championships that he has either won the tournament or placed 2nd since 2012. That’s ten years of absolute dominance. The only athlete who’s maybe more perfect than Paul McBeth at Worlds is Michael Phelps in Olympic events. But that’s for another debate and most purists know that cross-sport comparisons don’t really hold up anyway, they’re simply just fun to look at.
From August 30th through September 3rd, the 2023 PDGA World Championships will be held at Smugglers Notch in Vermont. Smuggs, as the resort is affectionately named, has two courses: Fox Run and Brewsters Ridge. The PDGA has run the World Championships since 1982, making this year the 41st event. Let’s take a look at just how good Paul McBeth is when playing at the PDGA World Championships and how his chances will be this year in Vermont.
Paul McBeth’s Record at PDGA World Championship Events.
Let’s first look at all of Paul’s finishes at PDGA World Championship events, starting at 2008, McBeth’s first MPO World’s.
- 2008: Tied 17th (Winner: Dave Feldberg)
- 2009: Tied 22nd (Winner: Avery Jenkins)
- 2010: 12th (Winner: Eric McCabe)
- 2011: 15th (Winner: Nate Doss)
- 2012: Winner (1)
- 2013: Winner (2)
- 2014: Winner (3)
- 2015: Winner (4)
- 2016: Runner-up (Winner: Ricky Wysocki)
- 2017: Runner-up (Winner: Ricky Wysocki)
- 2018: Runner-up (Winner: Gregg Barsby)
- 2019: Winner (5)
- 2020: Event Not Held
- 2021: Runner-up (Winner: James Conrad)
- 2022: Winner (6)
Final Tally:
PDGA World Championship Titles: 6
PDGA World Championship Runner-Up: 4
Paul McBeth has 10 Straight PDGA World Championships finishing 2nd or better. In the 40 years the event has been held, McBeth has essentially owned the podium 25% of the time. And while Climo may have more wins, the argument for who is the GOAT is for another time. The fact is, is that Paul McBeth is still competing and he has continued to show his World Championship dominance every year.
Paul McBeth at Smugglers Notch
Brewsters Ridge and Fox Run at Smuggs are two standout courses that practically define what a disc golf course should be. They offer long throws, tight OB fairways and tough wooded lines to protected greens. In fact, UDisc ranks these courses as the #4 and #7 of the best courses in the world.
Looking ahead at the 2023 PDGA World Championships to be held at Smugglers Notch, lets take a look at McBeth’s stats at tournaments on this course.
- 2018: PDGA World Championships: Runner-up
- 2019: DGPT Playoffs GMC: Winner
- 2020: DGPT Playoffs GMC: Runner-up
- 2021: DGPT Playoffs GMC: Runner-up
While not winning every tournament held at Smugglers Notch, Paul McBeth again has finished 2nd or better for a majority of the last five years. (In 2022 McBeth placed 5th)
To conclude, we don’t condone gambling but when you combine the PDGA World Championships and Smugglers Notch, there might not be a better pick than Paul McBeth. While he hasn’t had a standout season in 2023, the historical data points to at least a 2nd place finish for the upcoming world championships. What do you think? Tell us below in the comments!
F.A.Q.
Paul McBeth is currently signed to Discraft for a ten year contract worth over $10 million dollars.
In 2012, McBeth won his first world title.
Paul McBeth currently putts with the Discraft CT Luna.