Paige Pierce Dominates Memorial Championships with Record-Breaking Round

Paige Pierce's incredible form continued to shine at the Memorial Championships, as she shot the second-highest rated round in the history of the event on Saturday. The Vista del Camino XL layout proved to be a perfect canvas for Pierce's skills, with an SSA of 54.99-59 providing her with ample opportunities to showcase her mastery.

Pierce's incredible 12-under-par performance unofficially scored a 1057, surpassing even her own record set in 2017 at the Texas State Championships (1058). This remarkable achievement solidified Pierce's position as one of the greatest disc golfers of all time. The Vista round was also the third-best women's score across all SSAs, with Pierce holding the record for the top score (1059) from the 2018 Jonesboro Open.

In a post-round interview, Pierce revealed her initial thoughts on her performance: "Once I threw my approach on 18, I started thinking about it. That's probably up in the 1040s, probably." The official rating eventually settled at a 1057 after more scores were added and adjusted.

Pierce attributed her success to the ease of the course and her ability to execute clean shots. "These courses are really simple," she said. "They're really easy if you're letting the disc go when you want it... But that's the hardest part in disc golf – not early releasing, not late releasing, no grip locks, no shanks."

She continued: "Today they were coming out exactly where I wanted them. I could see the lines painted on the fairway, I knew exactly what kind of skips I was going to get and everything." Pierce's confidence and focus proved to be a winning combination as she navigated the challenging holes.

The round got off to an inauspicious start with an errant drive on hole 1, but Pierce quickly regained her footing with a clutch birdie putt from 38 feet. On hole 2, she hit another crucial Circle 2 putt, marking the beginning of a dominant streak.

"All of my practice putts were going in," Pierce said. "From short, from long, anhyzers, jump putts... You know, some days you just feel like, alright, I'm ready to putt today." This newfound confidence and ability to execute under pressure were instrumental in her record-breaking performance.

Pierce's driving was also on point, with 94% of fairways hit, the only miss being a lay-up before the triple mandatory on 18. She even carded the only 2 of the day in the entire field on hole 13 – a feat she had never accomplished before.

"I knew I was bogey-free, I knew I was well under par," Pierce said. "But then I got hole 13 for the first time ever... and I started thinking back, how many birdies have I had?" This realization sparked an incredible run of four consecutive birdies, including a drop-in birdie on the challenging par 3 16th.

As she heads into Sunday's final round with an eight-shot lead over Jennifer Allen, Pierce remains focused on maintaining her composure under pressure. "I think just keep it clean... People who didn't come and watch today are going to come and watch tomorrow, and they're going to have these expectations, and I just can't let the outside expectations affect my game plan or my shots or anything."

Pierce and the lead card will tee off at 2:45 p.m. MST on Sunday, with all eyes on her as she looks to extend her record-breaking performance and secure another win.

This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/news/pierce-distances-herself-all-time-great-performance