Paul McBeth, shown here competing in the 2011 Vibram Open, has won the National Tour's first two events. He'll look to win the third NT event at the Kansas City Wide Open.

By P.J. Harmer — RattlingChains.com Staff

Paul McBeth is seeking his third straight PDGA National Tour Elite Series title this weekend in Kansas City, Mo.

The Tour will hold its third event of the six-tournament season, at the 30th Kansas City Wide Open from Friday-Saturday.

During this year’s Drive for the Championship presented by Vibram Disc Golf, a player’s top three NT event points, plus those earned at the tour-ending Vibram Open from August 16-19, will decide the champion in the men’s and women’s tour.

McBeth, who placed third in last year’s tour, has won the first two men’s events and has a perfect 200 points this season. The first two wins came at the Memorial and the Masters Cup.

McBeth leads Will Schusterick by 14 points. Nate Doss (175) is in third, followed by Avery Jenkins (168.5) and Dave Feldberg (164).

Reigning tour champion Nikko Locastro is 13th with 106.5 points.

Doss won last year’s event with a four-round total of 201 to earn the $1,650 championship check. He beat out Jenkins by two strokes. McBeth finished ninth with  a 216.

On the women’s side, defending National Tour champion Val Jenkins (193) holds a five-point lead over Catrina Allen and an eight-point lead over Sarah Hokom, who finished second in last year’s standings.

Jenkins won the season-opening Memorial and Hokom won the Masters Cup. Allen, who earned the Rookie of the Year last year, has placed second in each event.

Liz Lopez  (173) is in fourth, followed by Sheila Kirkham (148).

In last year’s event, Paige Pierce won with a 244, good enough for a five-stroke victory over Lopez.

To see the full list of competitors, visit the PDGA page for the event.

The weather looks like it should be decent for the weekend. According to weather.com (as of late Wednesday night), Friday is showing mostly sunny with a high of about 74. On Saturday, it’s partly cloudy with a high of about 82. Each day has a 20 percent chance of precipitation.

Sunday, there is a chance for isolated thunderstorms (30 percent chance of precipitation) with a high of about 85.

Notes:

Disc Golf Planet TV will cover the event the full weekend.

Visit the Kansas City Flying Disc Club for more information on the event, including a full schedule for the weekend.

P.J. Harmer is the lead blogger for Rattling Chains. E-mail him at: pj [at] rattlingchains.com.