Disc Golf World Championships 2026: How the titles were decided in Milford
The World Championships week in Milford came to an end on Sunday, August 30, in a way the disc golf community will be talking about for a long time. In the women's division, Eveliina Salonen achieved something that had not been seen at the World Championships in more than 20 years. In the Open division, the world title was ultimately decided by a rules call on hole 17, prompting the PDGA to publish a separate statement the following day.
Let's take a closer look at what actually happened in Michigan and how the Finnish players performed.
Toboggan and Black Locust
The 2026 PDGA Pro Worlds were held from August 26 to 30 in Milford, Michigan. Two courses were used: the seasonal layout at Kensington Toboggan, par 66 and approximately 3.4 km long, and Black Locust, par 65. The field was cut after four rounds, with the final round played at Toboggan. A total of 84 players advanced to the Open final, while 39 players made the final round in the women's division.
Toboggan is familiar from the Discraft Great Lakes Open. Its long par 4 and par 5 holes reward players who can keep their drivers on the fairway for five straight days. That partly explains why the final standings looked the way they did.
Women's division: Eveliina Salonen at 43 under par, winning by 17 strokes
Salonen took the lead in the second round and never looked back. She entered the final with a nine stroke advantage, and her closing round was incredible. She shot 14 under par with 12 birdies, one eagle and zero bogeys. The round was rated 1057. And she did it in rain that caused problems for many of the other players.
Her final score was 43 under par. Missy Gannon finished 17 strokes behind in second place, while Rebecca Don took bronze. Salonen's five round average rating of 1023 is the highest in World Championships history.
This is Salonen's second world title, following her first in 2024, and her sixth Major victory. If you need something to talk about at your next weekly league, here it is: Salonen led the tournament in every major throwing statistic. Fairway hits, scrambling, parked shots, C1 regulation and C2 regulation. She ranked first in all of them.
The other Finnish women also made their mark. Silva Saarinen battled for a medal until the closing stages of the final and finished fifth at 18 under par. Iida Lehtomäki finished eighth, Olivia Kindstedt tied for 11th, Heidi Laine tied for 21st and Henna Blomroos tied for 25th. All six Finnish women made the cut and advanced to the final round. Three Finns inside the top 10 at the World Championships is a statistic worth remembering.
Open division: Balodis led by two strokes on hole 17, then came the call
The main character of this story was not Gannon Buhr, Ricky Wysocki or Paul McBeth. It was 21 year old Latvian Rainers Balodis, whose previous best World Championships finish was 76th and who was competing in the United States for the first time in his life.
Balodis shot 13 under par in Saturday's fourth round, rated 1088, and entered the final with a three stroke lead. On Sunday, he birdied eight of the first nine holes. His pace slowed on the back nine, but he still reached the tee of hole 17 with a two stroke lead. Two holes remaining, two strokes in hand. The world title was effectively within his grasp.
Then Balodis threw his approach toward the basket, and Aaron Gossage, who was playing in the same group, called a stance violation. According to the PDGA statement, Gossage saw Balodis' left foot in an illegal position at the moment of release under rule 802.07.A. PDGA Director of Competition Phill Diloné, who was walking with the group as a marshal, immediately confirmed the call. The other players in the group said they had not been watching. The group confirmed the scores on the tee of hole 18, including the penalty stroke, and Balodis did not appeal the decision to Tournament Director Nate Heinold, who was present.
That single penalty stroke changed everything. Silas Schultz gained one stroke through his own play on hole 17, and the penalty erased the other. The lead was gone. Balodis still birdied hole 18, leaving both players tied at 35 under par and sending the championship to a playoff. The playoff continued on Toboggan's hole 18, where Schultz secured the title on the very first attempt.
The Disc Golf Network commentators questioned the call based on the replay footage. The reaction on social media was even stronger. On Monday, the PDGA published a statement reviewing the incident rule by rule and confirmed that the call would stand and could no longer be reconsidered under rules 801.03.C and 808.G.
Three things are worth keeping in mind before forming an opinion:
- Disc golf is a self officiated sport. The rules require players to call violations when they occur. Gossage did what the rules require him to do. The fact that foot faults are rarely called in practice does not mean they cannot or should not be called.
- The call was not based solely on one player's word. A PDGA official immediately confirmed it.
- Balodis had the opportunity to appeal the call to the tournament director. He did not do so.
Whether the violation was clear enough to warrant a call on hole 17 of the final round is likely to remain a topic of discussion for years to come.
Silas Schultz: first Major, world champion
Along with the $30,000 winner's purse, Schultz is now a name worth remembering. The Baton Rouge native was not among the pre tournament favourites, but five rounds of 4 under, 8 under, 4 under, 9 under and 10 under, with ratings of 1048, 1060, 1039, 1063 and 1067, tell the story. His 10 under final round was among the best scores in the field exactly when it mattered most.
The biggest names finished further down the leaderboard this time. Wysocki was sixth, Buhr tied for eighth, Heimburg finished 11th and McBeth tied for 17th. Zachary Nash, Isaac Robinson and Jake Monn completed the podium by sharing third place at 32 under par.
Finnish players in the Open division
Ten Finnish players advanced to the final round in the Open division. That alone says plenty about where Finnish disc golf stands in 2026.
Rasmus Saukkoriipi, tied 12th at 26 under par
The best Finnish finish of the week. Saukkoriipi opened with a 6 under round and was fifth after two rounds. Middle rounds of 5 under, 3 under and 4 under kept him consistently within reach of the lead groups, and a final round of 8 under, rated 1054, lifted him into a tie for 12th alongside Eagle McMahon and Cole Redalen. Saukkoriipi entered the tournament with a 1018 rating and played above his rating in all five rounds. Great week from Saukko!
Nestori Tuhkanen, 19th at 22 under par
Tuhkanen's week was a lesson in consistency: 2 under, 5 under, 4 under, 6 under and 5 under. Not a single round rated below 1035 and no major swings in either direction. On a course like Toboggan, where one bad hole can quickly cost three strokes, that is exactly the kind of game that can carry a player into the top 20. Tuhkanen climbed the world rankings during the summer, and this result reinforces that upward trend.
Niklas Anttila, tied 20th at 21 under par
Niklas entered the tournament ranked fifth in the world and with one of the highest player ratings in the entire field at 1042. His opening 5 under and third round 6 under were the kind of Anttila performances that keep him in contention. An even par second round was his only round clearly below his usual level, and that single round ultimately made the difference between his finish and a place inside the top 10. Anttila responded in a way that says more about the player than the final position: he immediately followed it with 6 under and then shot 7 under in the final. He tied for 20th alongside Joona Heinänen and Teemu Lampainen. The season is not over, with the DGPT continuing at Idlewild this weekend, and in three of the five rounds Anttila showed that his game is exactly where it needs to be.
Väinö Mäkelä, tied 29th at 16 under par
Mäkelä from Turku started the week well. An opening 4 under and a third round 6 under, rated 1052, kept him firmly in contention. An even par fourth round dropped him down the leaderboard, and a 3 under final left him tied for 29th. Mäkelä played above his 1030 rating in two rounds, right at his level in one and below it in two. In a five round event like the World Championships, that is rarely enough for a top 20 finish, but the level of play was clearly there.
Other Finnish players
Joona Heinänen and Teemu Lampainen tied for 20th at 21 under par, Daniel Davidsson tied for 26th at 19 under, Jesse Nieminen and Lauri Lehtinen tied for 37th at 11 under, and Otto Mäkinen tied for 74th. Matias Kalaoja and Tuomas Hyytiäinen missed the cut.
Ten Finns among the 84 finalists. Only the United States had more players in the final round.
Interested in the discs used by Worlds players?
If you want to try the same molds as the top players from Milford, or support Finnish players by picking up their signature and Tour Series discs, search by player name to see what is currently available. A portion of the proceeds from Tour Series discs goes directly to the player, making it one of the most direct ways to support them on the road to the next World Championships:
- Eveliina Salonen discs
- Niklas Anttila discs
- Rasmus Saukkoriipi discs
- Nestori Tuhkanen discs
- Väinö Mäkelä discs
Sources
Results, round scores and ratings are based on the PDGA's official results as of August 31, 2026. Official ratings are still subject to confirmation. The description of the foot fault incident is based on the PDGA's statement.
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