James Conrad Bounces Back from Slow Start to Tie for Lead

The trend may be breaking in James Conrad's favor. Despite struggling to find his footing in season openers, the reigning US Disc Golf Champion is making a strong statement at the Preserve Championship. On Friday, he carded a 15-under par 49 in the opening round, tying him with Nikko Locastro for an early lead.

Conrad had been off to a rocky start this year, finishing 39th at the Dynamic Discs Open after a slow season opener last week. However, it's clear that he's found his rhythm once again. In fact, his hot round was the best of his year so far, with 95% success rate on drives and 83% of putts landing inside circle 1.

Conrad's performance was all about adapting to the Preserve's unique layout. With sweeping fairways and minimal out-of-bounds hazards, he took advantage of the course's forgiving nature. "Definitely nice to bounce back after an underwhelming performance last weekend," Conrad said. "So I wanted to come out swinging today." And swing he did, finishing strong with an eagle on hole 18.

Locastro, too, was in top form, posting a 15-under par round that included seven consecutive birdies in the final stretch. However, he faced stiff competition from Paige Pierce, who continued her dominance in the FPO division. Despite only hitting one fairway outside circle 1 all day, Pierce carded a 10-under par 55 to take an early lead.

Meanwhile, Missy Gannon is putting on another impressive display of accuracy, logging an 8-under par 57 and maintaining a perfect putting streak that stretches over 54 consecutive holes. "It felt really good to put it all together," Gannon said, crediting her recent mindset shift for the improvement.

Paige Pierce remains at the top of the leaderboard going into Saturday's round, but she's not getting too comfortable just yet. "Lots of birdies, but a lot of shots I wish I could get back," Pierce said, vowing to improve on the day's performance.

On the MPO side, 13 players tied for third place with 12-under par showings, including Gregg Barsby, Emerson Keith, Collin Bailey, and Drew Gibson. The Preserve Championship will resume Saturday at 1:35 p.m. CT on the Disc Golf Network.

This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/news/conrad-bounces-back-ties-locastro-open-preserve-championship