Nikko Locastro Takes Commanding Lead at Waco Charity Open

The second round of the Disc Golf Pro Tour - Waco Annual Charity Open has seen some remarkable performances, with Nikko Locastro and Kona Panis leading the charge at Brazos East Park in Texas. The windy conditions, which plagued the players on day one, proved to be a significant factor once again, but many golfers managed to navigate them successfully.

Nikko Locastro's game plan seemed to be paying off as he stormed through the back nine of the Beast course with seven birdies and just one bogey. His impressive round earned him a 54 and put him at 18-under heading into Sunday's finale, giving him a one-stroke lead over Gavin Rathbun and Bradley Wiliams. Locastro credited his confident mindset for his success, stating that he felt "focused today" and was sticking to the same game plan for day three.

Meanwhile, Kona Panis continued her strong form with an 8-under run through Hole 15, carding six birdies in total. She shook off a double-bogey start on Saturday, bouncing back with a birdie on the second hole before finishing with one of just six birdies on Hole 18. Panis gained 5.46 strokes from tee to green and 5.48 strokes from putting, according to UDisc. Her lead is a commanding 10 strokes ahead of Madison Walker in second place.

Other notable performances came from Cale Leiviska, who surged up the leaderboard with a 10-under 53 on Saturday. He managed well in the windy conditions, grabbing birdies on the first two holes and biriding seven of the nine wooded holes. Ricky Wysocki joins Leiviska at 14-under par, while Calvin Heimburg, Raven Newsom, and Gannon Buhr round out the chase card.

For Panis, playing safe and not taking unnecessary risks is her strategy for Sunday's finale. "Today, I went for some bigger putts and left myself some testers," she said. "I'm just going to try to keep it in the fairway and manage."

Coverage of the event will begin on the Disc Golf Network at 1:30 pm CT, with the men's lead card teeing off at 1:50 p.m. CT and the women's lead card following at 3:30 p.m. CT. Live scoring and stats are available via UDisc Live.

This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/news/panis-builds-big-lead-locastro-one-waco