Eagle Wynne McMahon

Eagle Wynne McMahon
— Disc golfer —
Personal information
Full nameEagle Wynne McMahon
BornBoulder, CO
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Nationality United States
ResidenceBoulder, Colorado
Career
Turned professional2011
Current tour(s)PDGA National Tour
Disc Golf Pro Tour
Professional wins53
Number of wins by tour
PDGA National Tour4
Disc Golf Pro Tour7
Achievements and awards
Konopiste Open Champion2018
National Tour Series Champion2018
European Open Champion2022
(For a full list of awards, see here)

Eagle Wynne McMahon is an American professional disc golfer from Boulder, Colorado. He has 53 career wins (including two majors)[1] and is one of the highest rated players in the world. At the end of the 2023 season he was ranked 1st in the world by UDisc.[2]

Professional career

Early career

McMahon began playing disc golf in 2007, when he was nine years old, when he looked for a summer activity and soon started competing in smaller tournaments.[3] His first victory in a PDGA-sanctioned event came in 2009 when he won the Johnny Roberts Memorial competing in the Junior II Boys class, later going on to win tournaments in both the intermediate and advanced classes. McMahon turned professional in 2011, entering three tournaments without cashing.[4] The following year he entered five tournaments and cashed for the first time in the C-tier Mile High Classic.[5] After cashing in two of the three C-tier tournaments he entered in 2013 he had his breakout season in 2014 when he turned 16, cashing in 14 of the 15 tournaments he entered, with three wins, 12 podium finishes and earned himself over $5,000.[6] His most notable win was in the A-tier 2014 Colorado State Disc Golf Championship.[7]

2015–present

In 2015 McMahon had his first full season as a touring pro, entering 29 tournaments, winning seven and earning over $15,000 in prize money.[8] The following two seasons, 2016 and 2017, he continued to perform at a similar level, winning multiple times, as well as multiple podium finishes in National Tour events in 2017.[9] In February 2018 he won his first national tour event, the Las Vegas Challenge,[10] following this up with two more National Tour wins at the Glass Blown Open and Beaver State Fling, as well as his first major win at the Konopiště Open, in the Czech Republic;[11] his overall performance that season earned him the National Tour title for 2018.[12] Since that breakout season he has been one of the top players in the MPO division, winning multiple times in the DGPT, including four in 2021 (DGLO, Portland Open, OTB Open, Las Vegas Challenge).[13] In October 2021 he injured his throwing shoulder during filming for JomezPro, forcing him to withdraw from that year's Tour Championship.[14] He returned to the tour at the beginning of the 2022 season but was forced to take a three-month break from the tour to continue rehabilitating his shoulder injury. However, he still managed to notch his biggest win to date in the European Open on his return in July, while playing without a forehand but compensating by throwing some tee shots with a left-handed backhand.[15] After finishing 38th in the Professional Disc Golf World Championships a month later,[16] he played in only three other lower-tier events before ending his season, winning the C-tier Boulder County Disc Golf Championships[17] in his last outing of the year.

PDGA Rating

McMahon surpassed the Professional Disc Golf Association's 1000 rating mark at 14-years old, on June 24, 2014. The following years he has gone up in rating at a fast rate, until breaking the 1050-barrier in March 2019. In the rating update of October 2018, McMahon was the highest rated player in the world, tied with Paul McBeth at a rating of 1048.[18] As of May 2020, only three players had achieved a rating of 1050 or above in the history of disc golf. McBeth was the first one to reach this rating but was followed by McMahon and later Ricky Wysocki.[19]

Injuries

Eagle has struggled with two significant injuries since 2019. The first injury was in his elbow, but the more serious one came during the 2019 United States Disc Golf Championships after a self-inflicted fracture to his throwing hand, which later got diagnosed as a boxer's fracture. This broken hand caused Eagle to abandon the last part of the 2019 season, but he was fully recovered at the start of the 2020 season.[19]

Sponsorship

McMahon and MVP Discs announced a 5-year deal starting in 2024.[20]

McMahon announced his departure from Discmania on January 8, ending a 9-year relationship.

Before joining MVP, McMahon had been sponsored by Discmania and Grip Equipment during his professional career. After playing disc golf for four years, he got sponsored as a 16-year-old. During his time with Discmania, he has had great success with his signature discs.

Notable victories

McMahon has won 50 events, some of the most notable of which are listed below.[21]

Year Tournament Name Tournament type
2018 Konopiste Open Major
2018 Beaver State Fling National Tour
2018 Glass Blown Open National Tour
2018 Las Vegas Challenge National Tour
2018 National Tour Champion
2019 Beaver State Fling National Tour
2019 Nick Hyde Memorial A-tier
2019 Tyyni A-tier
2019 Memorial Championship DGPT
2020 Discraft Great Lakes Open DGPT
2020 Idlewild Open DGPT
2021 Las Vegas Challenge DGPT
2021 OTB Open DGPT
2021 Portland Open DGPT
2021 Discraft Great Lakes Open DGPT
2022 European Open Major
2023 Goat Hill Challenge A-tier
2023 Beaver State Fling DGPT Silver
2023 Discmania Open DGPT Silver

References

  1. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817". Professional Disc Golf Association. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  2. ^ "Disc Golf World Rankings; UDisc". udisclive.com. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  3. ^ "DiscGolfer magazine Summer 2019; Professional Disc Golf Association". Pdga.com. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  4. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817". Professional Disc Golf Association. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  5. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  6. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  7. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  8. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  9. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  10. ^ "Las Vegas Challenge presented by Innova Champion Discs - National Tour".
  11. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  12. ^ "2018 PDGA National Tour Final Standings & Payout - Livewire".
  13. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  14. ^ "Eagle McMahon to Miss DGPT Championship with Shoulder Injury - Livewire".
  15. ^ "Eagle McMahon Drops from USDGC, Ending 2022 Season - Livewire".
  16. ^ "2022 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships Presented by Dynamic Discs".
  17. ^ "Eagle McMahon #37817".
  18. ^ "Eagle Wynne McMahon Rating history; Professional Disc Golf Association". Pdga.com. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  19. ^ a b "DiscGolfer magazine Winter 2020; Professional Disc Golf Association". Pdga.com. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  20. ^ creamer (2024-01-16). "The Eagle Has Landed". MVP Disc Sports. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  21. ^ "Eagle Wynne McMahon #37817 Career Wins; Professional Disc Golf Association". Pdga.com. Retrieved 2020-05-12.