Wysocki Takes Early Lead in Santa Cruz Masters Cup

The first round of the Santa Cruz Masters Cup was dominated by defending champion Ricky Wysocki, who shot a scorching 14-under par 59 at the DeLaveaga Disc Golf Course. Wysocki's blistering performance gave him an early lead in the tournament, but he knows that anything can happen with unpredictable weather forecasted for the next two days.

Wysocki, known for his strong play in poor conditions, said he was focusing on controlling his speed and landing flat on the greens to give himself plenty of opportunities for birdies. He credited his success to careful shot selection and avoiding potential trouble areas on the course.

"I was making sure I was controlling my speed and landing flat coming into the greens and giving myself a lot of looks inside 40 feet," Wysocki explained. "I feel like that's when I play my best."

Wysocki's impressive round featured three consecutive birdies to close out his 24 holes, including two clutch circle's edge putts. His hot finish left him in first place at the end of day one, with a commanding two-shot lead over the rest of the field.

The chase for Wysocki is led by four-time Masters Cup winner Paul McBeth, who shares second place with Eagle McMahon and Matt Bell after shooting 12-under par 67s. Garrett Gurthie, Eric Oakley, and Sias Elmore are tied for fifth at 11-under par 62s.

While some players struggled with their putting, including McBeth, others found their rhythm, such as Bell, who connected on 67 percent of his circle 2 attempts and finished the round strongly. With rain in the forecast, those early starts proved crucial, and Wysocki was happy to be at the top of the leaderboard.

"I'm definitely prepared for it," he said with a laugh. "And the raincoat's ready."

In other notable performances, three players aced during the round, including Sias Elmore and Austin Hannum on hole 3, just minutes apart. Drew Gibson also took home a solo ace on the 310-foot hole 9.

The tournament will continue tomorrow with the Open lead card teeing off at 2:50 p.m., and scores and stats can be found on UDiscLive.com.

This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/news/wysocki-pushes-late-masters-cup-lead