Final Four

The Bracket Doesn't Care About Feelings 🦅

sighs in digital captivity Last week's double-points free-for-all is history — welcome to Week 9's Final Four, where the Sunset Spike Hyzer layout hosted eleven birds under a mild 78.4°F sky and barely a whisper of wind. This is a new chapter: no more stacking points, no more scrambling for margin. Elimination rules now — the top four in each bracket duke it out, losers get cut, and one survivor marches into next week's finale. Two weeks remain before this aviary crowns its Apex Predator, and today's card gave the pecking order plenty to argue about. 🏆

Hole Twelve Ends a Reign 🦅

In RPA, Brian Barbour closed at -7 for a 967-rated round good for the outright win, with Jesus Mares taking 2nd at -4, Brett Olsen 3rd at +3, and Duncan Wells 4th at +9. The lead changed hands three times: Mares grabbed it after hole 3, Barbour pulled even through hole 11, then seized it outright after hole 12 when Mares bogeyed and dropped out of the race entirely. Barbour answered by closing with a clean, bogey-free back nine — the kind of finish that ends debates. Mares, fresh off last week's 994-rated RPA title run, could only manage 935 this time, a 59-point tumble from his own peak and a single bogey away from defending the throne outright. 📉

Last Week's Runner-Up Rules the Roost 🐦

RAD flipped its own script: Joshua Willoughby went wire-to-wire at -3 for a 924-rated round, never once relinquishing the lead, while Travis Sherrod settled for 2nd at even par despite riding a five-hole par train from 1 through 5. It's a direct reversal of Week 8, when Sherrod took 1st and Willoughby settled for 2nd — this week Willoughby found five extra strokes and 23 rating points to leapfrog into the top spot, while Sherrod slid from 1st to 2nd and shed 18 rating points in the process. Willoughby's hot streak carried him through the opening five holes before it cooled, but by then the damage was already done. 🔁

A Flock of One, Still Flying 🦆

RAG had exactly one competitor this week, and Elizabeth Johnson made the most of her solo airspace, winning wire-to-wire at +8. Her round had shape to it — a hot streak through holes 4 through 6, a cold spell that reversed itself over holes 7 through 9, and a front nine that ran a full six strokes better than her back. No rivals to battle, no lead to defend against anyone but the course itself, but the win — and the division's only cash-line finish — still counts. Here's hoping the RAG airspace gets a little more crowded before the season closes. 🕊️

Rookie Bird Claims the Whole Sky 🦅

Over in RAF, Eric Davis went wire-to-wire at even par for an 892-rated round, with Brandon Widener taking 2nd at +5 (838-rated) to hold the final cash spot. Davis's round landed 73 points above his 819 rating — the single biggest overperformance on the card today, and not a close second. That kind of number doesn't happen by accident; someone found their line early and never let go of it. 🚀

The Perch Never Left His Talons 🦅

RAH belonged to Juan Martinez, who went wire-to-wire at -7 for a 967-rated round after taking the lead from TJ Braley on hole 4 — Braley had briefly held it through hole 3 before a bogey on 4 sent him tumbling out of contention. Martinez closed with a bogey-free back nine and a clutch birdie on 18 to seal it, finishing 21 points above his 946 rating. Braley fought back with a genuine Bounce Back and Resilience Run after a rough hole 9 — birdie on 10, two-under across the next three — but still finished 2nd at even par, 35 points below his own rating, good enough to hold the final cash spot. Martinez improved on last week's -3 wire-to-wire win with an even more dominant -7 today; the perch, once again, never changed talons. 👑

Two Birds, One Identical Rating 📊

Cross-division notables: Brian Barbour (RPA) and Juan Martinez (RAH) both posted identical 967-rated rounds, each sealing it with a bogey-free back nine — a coincidence too clean to ignore. Brett Olsen and Joshua Willoughby each rode hot streaks through their own stretches of holes, proof that momentum doesn't care which division you're playing. Eric Davis's +73-over-rating round in RAF stands as the day's most dramatic overperformance, while Jesus Mares's round — 23 points below his own rating — offers the counterpoint. A reminder to the field: the more you track on PDGA Live, the richer these recaps get. Log your throws, birds. 🎯

Split Pot, Whole Lot of Suspense 💰

No one claimed the Super Ace Pot this week, and the balance keeps quietly building toward whoever finally connects. Brian Barbour came closest to cashing in on hole 3, the Super Ace hole, but a one-over score left the big prize untouched. The pot rolls forward, patient as ever, waiting for the ace that hasn't come yet. 🎯

The Eagle Demands a Recount, Again 🦅

Both bag tag pools run AllIn mode, meaning every tag gets fully reshuffled based on standings — no mercy, no exceptions. In the Azure Shadows pool, Juan Martinez climbed from 3rd to 1st, seizing the #1 Civic Surge tag on the back of his +21-over-rating, 967-rated Final Four performance — 52 strokes against a 57.9 field average. The tag's lore leans into "genuine popular will over elite maneuvering," and a round that clean reads like a landslide.

Over in the Gilded Talons pool, Eric Davis now holds the #1 Verdict Velocity tag, his strong showing enough to claim the top spot in a division where AllIn's reshuffle buries anyone who slipped or sat out. Two pools, two new occupants at the top — the eagle, as always, wants a recount, but the standings don't care. 🦅

Apex Predator Status, Up for Grabs 🏆

Week 9 leaves the aviary at a genuine crossroads: Barbour and Martinez both flashed identical 967-rated dominance, Willoughby and Sherrod swapped places for the second time this season, and two bag tags changed hands entirely under AllIn's unforgiving math. One week remains before the finale decides who gets to call themselves Apex Predator and who becomes a footnote in next season's rivalries. Show up, throw straight, and give the booth something worth narrating. 🕊️