Aug/Sep 2017 -
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TOURNAMENTS
Liz Johnson Wins 2017 U.S.
Women’s Open For 10th
Major Title
By
PLANO, Texas -
United States Bowling Congress Hall of
Famer Liz Johnson of Deerfield, Illinois, just bought a house
and is in the process of permanently relocating from New
York to Illinois, and she'll now need to make some room in
her new place for a couple more trophies.
The 43-year-old right-hander defeated Poland's Daria Pa-
jak, 188-176, to win the 2017
at Plano
Super Bowl on Sunday, marking the fourth consecutive
time, and sixth time in her career, she has claimed the cov-
eted green jacket.
The win, which was broadcast live on CBS Sports Net-
work, was the record 10th major victory of her career and
second of the season. She earned $20,000 for the win, and
Pajak took home $10,000 for the runner-up finish.
The two-time reigning
layer of the Year, Johnson won the Go Bowling
PWBA Players Championship in June and also claimed a
standard PWBA title earlier in the year at the 2017 PWBA
Storm Sacramento Open.
USBC Hall of Famer Marion Ladewig won the U.S.
Women's Open a record eight times, including five straight,
starting with the inaugural edition in 1949.
On the way to the win Sunday, Johnson threw two doubles
to stay head of Pajak, who rolled a pair perfect games and
averaged more than 229 this week to earn the top seed for
the championship round.
Johnson needed just two pins in her final frame to secure
the win and sealed it with a six-count on her first delivery.
She now is a formal trophy presentation away from her
third consecutive PWBA Player of the Year award, which is
based on competition points from the 13 of the season's 14
events.
"It's probably cliché, but it's a dream-come-true season,"
said Johnson, who was the runner-up to Latvia's Diana
Zavjalova at the 2017 USBC Queens in May. "I never
could've thought about winning two majors and finishing
second in the third one, along with the possibility of a third
player of the year, and I can't put into words the season I've
had. With all the talent we have out here on the Tour, to be
in the position I'm in is the best feeling in the world."
Johnson entered Sunday's live TV finals as the No. 5 seed
and defeated four talented young players to climb the ladder
for the second consecutive year.
"Climbing up the ladder always is tough, and a couple of
times I thought there was no way it was going to happen,"
Johnson said. "I was close early and then found my look,
but in the third match, I lost my feel a little bit. I had to take a
step back mentally, take some deep breaths and just focus
on making better shots. It was a little more of a grind today
than we saw during the week, and that's when experience
really helps. Sometimes, you have to expect the unex-
pected."
Pajak was looking to become the first international player
since 1982 to win the U.S. Women's Open. Japan's Shinobu
Saitoh was the first and only other to do so, defeating USBC
Hall of Famer Robin Romeo, who went on to win the event
in 1989.
Pajak is in contention for the 2017 PWBA Rookie of the
Year Award, which will be decided at the season-ending
Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship, the fourth major on
the 2017 PWBA Tour schedule and an invitation-only event
that features eligible champions and the top point-earners
from the current season.
The 24-year-old right-hander earned a spot in the PWBA
Tour Championship with a win at the recent PWBA Greater
Detroit Open, the first title of her PWBA career.
"I lost to the best bowler in the world, ever," Pajak said.
"Liz is probably - not probably, she is the best bowler in the
world. I could never take advantage of the fact she was
missing a little bit. I'm upset that at the time I really needed
to carry, I didn't, because I felt that could have changed the
game. I don't like losing in the 9th frame, but it is what it is."
On the way to the seventh U.S. Women's Open champion-
ship match of her career, Johnson needed to fill 15 pins in
her final frame to get past Team USA member Erin
McCarthy of Omaha, Nebraska.
Johnson left, and converted, the 3-6 combination on her
first offering and then tossed a crossover strike to earn a
spot in the final by a 199-195 margin.
Throughout match play this week at Plano Super Bowl,
McCarthy suffered from severe back spasms and was un-
able to sit during the match.
She led by 26 pins after five frames, before missing a 3-10
split in the sixth frame slowed her momentum and allowed
Johnson to take the lead with strikes in frames seven
through nine.
The semifinal between Johnson and McCarthy was re-
match of the title tilt at the 2015 Queens, where Johnson
defeated McCarthy, the top seed, to win her second Queens
tiara.
Prior to meeting with McCarthy, Johnson found herself
down nine pins at the halfway point of her match against
Canada's Valerie Bercier, but she tossed six consecutive
strikes, starting in the fifth frame, to outdistance the former
University of Nebraska standout, 255-223.
The day's opening match featured just seven strikes be-
tween the two players, but nine consecutive clean frames
from Johnson to start helped her sneak past Nicole Trudell
of Bridgeport, Connecticut, 191-178.
Back-to-back splits from Trudell in the seventh and eighth
frames, including a 7-10 in the latter, proved to be her undo-
ing, despite Johnson leaving, and missing, a split of her own
in the final frame.
The 2017 U.S. Women's Open started with 114 competi-
tors, who each bowled 24 games of qualifying over three
days before the field was cut to the top 38 for Friday's eight-
game cashers' round.
The 32-game pinfall totals determined the 24 bowlers for
match play, while their 56-game totals, including 30 bonus
pins for each win, decided the five players for the TV show.
There were 10 perfect games this week, with Pajak (two)
and Johnson among them.
