For years, Eagle McMahon and Anthony Barela have been mentioned in the same breath. Fans do it. Players talk about them together. It comes out in the broadcast booth, as well.
And it makes sense – they have plenty in common. Both are tall and lanky with thrower’s levers. Both began touring as teenagers. Both have elite distance with the forehand and backhand, too.
Furthermore, both have been labeled “the future of disc golf” time and time again. Heck, Philo Brathwaite has even referred to each of ‘em as “young buck” at least a half-dozen times.
Consider it a compliment: If Philo Brathwaite refers to you as a "young buck," you're doing something right.
— Green Splatter (@GreenSplatter) February 28, 2022
Initially, the belief was the two of them would spend their careers battling each other for majors. That’s as far as the similarities go, though. Beyond the above, there’s not much to compare …
Why? Well, it’s simple really:
Eagle wins – and when it matters. Anthony doesn’t do either.
To date, McMahon has a whopping 41 wins as a professional, compared to Barela’s 19. Of Eagle’s 41 tourney take-downs, 11 were of the A-tier variety, with eight coming on the PDGA National Tour. A.B. is nowhere remotely near Eagle with three A-tier wins to his name …
That’s it.
Things get worse in the head-to-head department for Barela, too – since the start of 2010:
- Eagle’s beaten A.B. 42 times out of 45 attempts.
- Eagle’s nabbed a top-10 finish at a rate 62.22% higher than Barela.
- Eagle’s thrown 591 fewer golf shots in competitive play than Anthony.
Things are seriously starting to look up for Barela, though …
Don’t write him off just yet.
For starters, he’s younger than Eagle – two years younger, in fact. I had no idea. My gut tells me most disc golf fans don’t know that, either. There’s time to mature and improve as a putter.
Next, one of Anthony’s three career A-tier wins came in January at the Shelly Sharpe Memorial. The field was certainly lacking, but he did beat out Drew Gibson’s third-place performance. He then followed that up with a strong showing at the Maricopa Open – he finished fourth.
The Las Vegas Challenge didn’t go quite as well as he would’ve liked. There were moments of brilliance, followed by tournament-crippling errors. He wrapped things up tied for 21st place with none other than Mr. McMahon himself – spooky stuff, huh?
One week later, he’d rebound and keep pushing at the Memorial Championship …
Yet again, an impressive, early-season showing from Barela:
Paul McBeth also earned his first win of the year at the Memorial championship
— PDGA Stats (@PDGAStats) March 7, 2022
McBeth averaged a 1074 rating and defeated Anthony Barela by 3 strokes
Listen, it certainly feels like A.B. is on the verge of something big – 2022 might be his year.
I know disc golf. I’m the first to admit, however, I don’t know it like Gibson, Brathwaite, Gregg Barsby, Josh Anthon and Paul McBeth – all people I’ve heard publicly praise Barela’s abilities.
If they believe A.B. can one day rival Eagle, there’s a good chance they’re right …
I lack the faith, though. This year, I’ll need to see it to believe it.
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Probably comes down to a matter of commitment; Eagle simply has more focus and drive than AB at this point. Just my opinion!
Yeah, that’s probably part of it …
But we can’t forget that Eagle’s a bit of a generational talent, as well.
A.B. could be one, as well, but if he weren’t, it’d hardly be his fault: Eagle’s just special.
I do think the gap’s not nearly as big as it looks on paper …
You saw that in the article, I’m sure.
Once A.B. is done with school, his focus will (likely) 100% be on disc golf – time will tell!