Ken "The Champ" Climo (born March 27, 1968, in
Clearwater, Florida) is a professional
disc golfer considered by many to be the best professional disc golfer of all time. Climo has claimed Twelve
PDGA World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
titles, including nine in as many years from 1990 to 1998.. Harold Duvall (1982, 1985),
Barry Schultz
Barry Schultz is a professional disc golfer based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He has played disc golf since the early 1980s, and has been a professional since 1992. He is on the Innova Champion Discs Hall of Fame Team. For a number of years, he ...
(2003–2004),
Nate Doss
Nate Doss is a former professional disc golfer who won three world championships (2005, 2007, 2011). With his win in 2011, Doss became only the second person with three MPO world championships, after Ken Climo's 12. In addition to his three wo ...
(2005, 2007, 2011),
Paul McBeth
Paul McBeth (born July 9, 1990) is an American professional disc golfer from Huntington Beach, California. He won the PDGA World Championships four times in a row (2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015) and again in 2019 and 2022, making him a six-time ch ...
(2012–2015, 2019, 2022) and
Richard Wysocki (2016, 2017) are the only other golfers with more than one open world title. In addition to his world titles, Climo has an unequalled record in the
United States Disc Golf Championship
The United States Disc Golf Championship is a disc golf tournament held at the Winthrop Gold Course, on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The professional event has been held annually as a PDGA sanctioned Major since 1 ...
(the premier event in the game), holding five titles (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007). Named seven times as the PDGA player of the year, Ken Climo was inducted into the PDGA Hall of Fame in 1995.
He competed in the World Championships masters division for the first time in 2012, at the age of 44, and won by a large margin, for his 13th world championship title. He has added 2 more world titles to his resume since then (2014, 2015).
In his 20 years on the PDGA, Climo has notched 103
aces.
Climo, with
Innova Discs
Innova Champion Discs Inc., generally known simply as Innova (stylized as INNOVA) is an American disc golf brand and manufacturing company. Founded in 1983, it is the largest disc golf disc manufacturer and was among the first companies to produc ...
has created his own special blend of plastic, known as KC Pro. Several discs are for sale in KC Pro, including the Aviar and Roc.
Professional career
Open division
Climo has 221 wins in the Open Division, the most all-time, including 12 World Championships and 5 US Championships. He was the first player to ever win the World and US Championships in the same year.
PDGA Pro World Championships (12)
Other majors (8)
Major playoff record (0-1)
National tour (14)
NT playoff record (3-0)
Summary
Annual statistics
Masters division
Although eligible for the Masters Division in 2008 when he turned 40, Climo played his first Masters event in 2012, when he won the World Championships. He has won two additional World Championships since then (2014, 2015), bringing his total (including Open Division) to 15.
PDGA World Championships(3)
National tour (6)
NT playoff record (1-0)
Summary
Annual statistics
Equipment
Climo has been sponsored by Innova Champion discs throughout his career. He has a number of past and current signature discs (marked with *) and carries a combination of the following discs in competition:
Drivers
*Boss (Champion)
*Destroyer (Pro, Star)
*Firebird (Champion)*
*Katana (Echo Star)
*Starfire (Pro)
*Tern (Champion)*
*Wraith (Pro, Star)*
*XCaliber (Echo Star)
Fairway Drivers
*Banshee (Champion)
*Eagle (Champion)*
*TeeBird (Champion, KC Pro)*
*TL (Champion)
*Sidewinder (Champion)
Midranges
*Roc (KC Pro)*
Putters
*Aviar (KC Pro)*
Climo's other signature discs have included: Cheetah, Cobra, Gazelle, Pegasus, Polaris LS, Raven, Scorpion, Stingray, Viper, Vulcan, Whippet, XD
External links
Ken Climo's PDGA Profile
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Climo, Ken
American disc golfers
Living people
1968 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
Sportspeople from Clearwater, Florida