Yesterday, I listened to Hunter and Trevor talk about Kevin Jones’ performance this season on Foundation Disc Golf’s “Grip Locked” podcast. Yes, the year’s still young, but up to this point, Kevin’s play has been underwhelming: He’s simply not (yet) a “big-name” guy …
Chris Dickerson is, but Jones isn’t – somebody please tell Prodigy.
But I digress: Similar to “K.J. USA,” there’s another “fringe” MPO talent who flirts with full-blown Pro Tour stardom, only to disappear for a few weeks, causing fans and media members to all but forget he exists. In fact, you might’ve forgotten about him, too …
I’m talking about Team Discmania’s Kyle Klein.
To date, his 2022 results speak for themselves – they’re of the “meh” variety:
- He took 24th at the Las Vegas Challenge.
- He took 16th at the Waco Annual Charity Open.
- He took fifth at The Open at Belton – super solid, of course.
- He took 25th at the Texas State Disc Golf Championship – not great.
This past weekend, he finished in 10th place at the Music City Open. Nothing horrible, but a far cry from the guy who pushes Paul McBeth to his limits at Winthrop Gold every October. Klein’s showing up, but not seriously competing for wins – as a result, his name fades from memory.
If you’re Cynthia Ricciotti or a diehard Klein fan, though, breathe easy …
Based on last year’s early-season scorecards, it looks like he’s just a slow-starter. At the same four, above-bulleted tournaments in 2021, yet again, Klein managed a single top-ten finish.
Over a seven-week period from late-June to mid-August, however, he went bonkers:
- He took eighth at the Disc Golf World Championships.
- He took second at the Great Lakes Open.
- He took sixth at Ledgestone.
- He won Idlewild.
And NONE of this takes into account his runner-up performance at USDGC, either.
Also, one more thing: Klein’s UDisc stats check out. He’s fine in just about every major metric. His 46% scramble rate’s lower than he’d like – good enough for 36th-best on the Pro Tour.
No bother – not everyone can save improbable pars like Ricky Wysocki.
So no, you don’t need to worry about the baby-faced bomber quite yet …
Remember: This is only Kyle Klein’s third season as a full-time professional disc golfer. Forget his name now – it’ll be nearly impossible to “keep it out of your mouth” in two months’ time.
#WillSmithSlap
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