bwfeb2018

February 2018 - www.bowlingworld.com 3 S U R F 4thstreetbowl.com abtbowling.com belmateobowl.com bowl.com bowlgoldcountrylanes.com calbowlingwriters.com californiaproshop.com calusbc.com classicbowling.com cloverleafbowl.com doubledeckerlanes.com earlanthonysdublinbowl.com gobowlreno.com granadabowl.com hammerpins.net high-roller.com mchenrybowl.com modestousbc.com morganhillbowl.com nugenerationlanes.com offthesheetproshop.com pacificbowl.com paddockbowl.com pba.com presidiobowl.com renojradult.net shirts4bowling.com skatebowl.com southpointcasino.com stationcasinoslanes.com stevecooksfiresidelanes.com stormbowling.com thealbanybowl.com tymetobowl.com valleycenterbowl.com westlanebowl.com westvalleybowl.com yosemitelanes.com bowlingworld.com TOURNAMENTS Matt O’Grady Defeats Jesper Svensson to Win 53rd PBA Tournament of Champions Four-time PBA regional winner also beats BJ Moore, Jason Belmonte and Andrew Anderson to his first PBA Tour title By Jerry Schneider FAIRLAWN, Ohio – Advancing from a pre-tournament qualifier earlier in the week all the way to the title match, four-time Professional Bowlers Association regional tourna- ment winner Matt O’Grady of Rahway, N.J., won the 53rd PBA Tournament of Champions Sunday for his first PBA Tour title. O’Grady, whose best previous PBA Tour finish was fourth, and best major finish was 13th, won three stepladder finals matches at AMF Riviera Lanes before beating top qualifier and 2016 Tournament of Champions winner Jesper Svens- son, 207-193, in the title match of the first major of the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season. O’Grady held a three-pin lead over Svensson in the eighth frame but was able to pull away when he struck in the ninth frame and the first shot in the 10th. Except for strikes in the second and third frames, Svensson was not able to put an- other string of strikes together for the rest of the match. ―I feel like I’m sleepwalking—it’s a dream come true,‖ said the 31-year-old O’Grady, who won PBA’s signature event that requires a player to be a PBA champion to be eligible to enter. ―It just shows you what hard work can do. I’ve been working hard the past year to be able to compete at this level. ―I admit that in the past I haven’t been as disciplined as I should be to be competitive out here on tour,‖ O’Grady added. ―I just had to commit to putting my head down, grit my teeth, and do the hard work you have to do.‖ For Svensson, it was his second consecutive runner-up finish in a major after finishing second in the PBA World Championship, the final major of the 2017 season. O’Grady, who became the first player since Dave D’Entre- mont in the 1996 Tournament of Champions to win four stepladder matches for the title, started the championship round with a 219-174 victory over PBA regional winner BJ Moore of Greensburg, Pa., who finished fifth. In the second match, O’Grady met four-time and reigning PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia, who was trying for a record-tying 10th major and third Tourna- ment of Champions title. Needing a double in the 10th frame to pull out the win, Belmonte struck on the first ball but left a 10 pin on a pocket hit on the second shot giving O’Grady the 229-225 win. ―That was like climbing the mountain to win that match,‖ O’Grady said. ―Obviously, I still had a lot of work to do but there was a lot of relief after beating Jason, especially with everything he was bowling for.‖ Belmonte, who was the No. 3 qualifier, made a dramatic run to the finals just barely advancing to match play in the 24th and final position. Had he won, he would have been only the fourth player to win a major from that position. Belmonte finished fourth but will have another opportunity to win a 10th major when the Barbasol PBA Players Champi- onship is held Feb. 19-25 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl in Columbus, Ohio. In the semi-final match, O’Grady beat Andrew Anderson of Holly, Mich., a second-year tour player who owns one re- gional title, 194-185. Anderson making his first tour television appearances, and Moore his third, had to qualify for the tournament field through the pre-tournament qualifier which was for non-tour winners who owned a title in one of PBA’s other divisions. The 2018 Tournament of Champions marked the return of PBA’s signature tournament to historic AMF Riviera Lanes where it had been conducted from 1966 to 1994. PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS AMF Riviera Lanes, Fairlawn, Ohio, Sunday Final Standings 1, Matt O’Grady, Rahway, N.J., $50,000. 2, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, $25,000. 3, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich. $13,000. 4, Jason Belmonte, Australia, $11,000. 5, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa., $10,000. Stepladder Results: Match One – O’Grady def. Moore, 219-174. Match Two – O’Grady def. Belmonte, 229-225. Semifinal Match – O’Grady def. Anderson, 194-185. Championship – O’Grady def. Svensson, 207-193. Third Round Standings (after 18 games. Top 24 advance to Thursday evening’s first match play round) 1, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 4,166. 2, Matt O'Grady, Rahway, N.J., 4,091. 3, Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 4,081. 4, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 4,065. 5, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 4,060. 6, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 4,054. 7, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 4,053. 8, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 4,049. 9, (tie) BJ Moore III, Greensburg, Pa., and Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 4,000. 11, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,984. 12, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,967. 13, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, Texas, 3,965. 14, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 3,964. 15, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 3,963. 16, Matthew Sanders, Evansville, Ind., 3,948. 17, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 3,947. 18, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,943. 19, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,939. 20, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 3,930. 21, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 3,929. 22, Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 3,927. 23, DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 3,925. 24, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,920. Failed to advance: 25, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 3,913, $3,000. 26, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,906. 27, Yannaphon Larpapharat, Thailand, 3,899. 28, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 3,897. 29, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 3,887. 30, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 3,883. 31, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla., 3,882. 32, Dom Barrett, England, 3,881. 33, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 3,880. 34, Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 3,878. 35, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 3,871. 36, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 3,868. 37, Rhino Page, Orlando, 3,848. 38, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,846. 39, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3,845. 40, Cristian Azcona, Puerto Rico, 3,835. 41, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 3,829. 42, Stuart Williams, England, 3,822. 43, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,820. 44, (tie) Chris Arcaro, Carolina Beach, N.C., and Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,817. 46, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 3,816. 47, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,811. 48, Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 3,810. 49, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 3,808.