2006/05/31

The PBA announced today season-ending awards for the 2005-06 Denny's PBA Tour campaign. Tommy Jones has been named the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year, Bill O'Neill was awarded the Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year and Jack Jurek was voted the Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award winner.

Jones (Simpsonville, S.C.) won a Tour-high four titles for the second consecutive season, becoming the first bowler to win as many as eight titles over two seasons since Parker Bohn III in 1998 and '99. One of Jones' four titles was his first career Major, which came in the 63rd U.S. Open in February.

In his fifth season on Tour, Jones led all bowlers in earnings with $301,700, the third-highest single-season total of all-time. He also finished second in points (237,886), tied for first in match play appearances (19), tied for second in TV appearances (6) and finished fifth in average (221.68).

"Obviously it's an honor when it's voted on by your peers, but this year with bowling writers voting for the first time it means that much more," said Jones, who finished second in last year's Player of the Year voting. "There are so many great bowlers who haven't won the award and even more great bowlers who have won, so to be put in that category means a lot."

The 27-year-old started the season off with a bang, winning the first two tournaments on the schedule. He defended his Japan Cup title by winning five matches in the championship round to capture the Dydo Japan Cup 2005, then won the season's first event on American soil, the 2005 Tulsa Championship. Jones' other title came in the 2006 Bayer Atlanta Classic.

Jones, who won the 2002 Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year Award, joins PBA Hall of Famer Mike Aulby as the only two bowlers in Tour history to win both awards in their career.

Norm Duke (Clermont, Fla.) was second in the PBA Player of the Year voting after making a Tour-high seven championship round appearances and winning one title. Walter Ray Williams Jr. (Ocala, Fla.), who tied Earl Anthony for most career Tour victories when he won his 41st title in the 2006 Denny's World Champions, was third. Others receiving votes were Patrick Allen, Chris Barnes, Wes Malott, Mike Scroggins, Ryan Shafer and Pete Weber.

O'Neill (Levittown, Pa.) led all rookies in points - finishing 28th in the 2005-06 PBA World Point Rankings - as well as earnings ($61,080), match play appearances (11) and average (215.06).

The rookie nearly won a title in his first career television appearance, finishing second in the 2005 Greater Omaha Classic early in the season.

"You only have one chance to be Rookie of the Year, and there were some pretty good bowlers so it feels very good to win," said O'Neill. "It's something I have always wanted to win and there have been a lot of great bowlers who have won in the past and have gone on to great careers. It's a nice stepping stone for me."

At 24 years old, O'Neill came into the 2005-06 campaign as the youngest of the 58 exempt bowlers, appearing in just three Denny's PBA Tour events prior to the 2005-06 season. He made an appearance in the 62nd U.S. Open as an amateur during the 2004-05 season and finished sixth. He became a PBA member just days later.

Sean Rash (Wichita, Kan.), who became the first non-exempt bowler ever to win a Denny's PBA Tour event when he captured the 2006 West Virginia Championship for his first career title, finished second. The 23-year-old bowled in 13 Denny's PBA Tour Qualifying Rounds in 2005-06, advancing to the round of 64 twice. Also receiving votes were Dino Castillo, Andres Gomez and Ben Laughlin.

Jurek (Lackawanna, N.Y.) won his first career PBA Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award. The 43-year-old has bowled on Tour part-time for 20 years, but the 2005-06 season was his first as an exempt bowler. He earned his exemption for 2005-06 by finishing first in the 2004-05 PBA Central Region point rankings.

Jurek regained his exempt status for 2006-07 by finishing 30th in the 2005-06 PBA World Point Rankings. He made one championship round appearance, finishing 4th in the 2005 Empire State Classic in Clifton Park, N.Y. He established career highs in earnings ($53,075), cashes (19), match play appearances (8) and average (216.28).

Tommy Delutz Jr. finished second while Blaise Bedolla, Dino Castillo, Joe Ciccone, Rick Lawrence and Mike Edwards also received votes.

Steve Nagy, a member of the United States Bowling Congress and PBA Halls of Fame, is the namesake of the PBA's Sportsmanship Award. The award is given annually to the PBA professional who demonstrates the highest degree of sportsmanship on Tour.

The PBA Player of the Year Award is named after long-time television play-by-play announcer Chris Schenkel. The late Schenkel provided commentary for the PBA on ABC for 36 years and was elected to the PBA Hall of Fame in 1976.

The Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year Award is named after PBA Hall of Famer Harry Golden, who served as the PBA Tour's Tournament Director for 29 years before retiring in 1990. The award was not handed out for the 2004-05 Tour season since no bowler fit the criteria to be nominated for the award. The criteria were changed for this season, with bowlers no longer needing to earn an exemption to be eligible.

The PBA Player and Rookie of the Year awards are voted on by PBA members and the media after the completion of the 2005-06 season. The Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Awards is voted on by PBA members who have bowled at least half of the events during the 2005-06 Denny's PBA Tour season.

2006/05/29

D.J. Archer has been through a lot in the last two years, but the wait for his first career PBA title was well worth it.

Archer defeated top-seed Jim Tomek Jr., 230-206, to win the 2006 PBA Regional Players Championship, the first of two Majors on the 2006-07 PBA Regional Tour schedule.

The Grand Prairie, Texas resident, who took home $11,000 for the win, also earned a berth in next season's Dexter Tournament of Champions, one of four Majors on the Denny's PBA Tour schedule.

"It's kind of a big weight off my back. People say once you get the first one a lot more will start happening," said Archer, 25. "I fought through a bad two years. I had a wrist injury this year for about five weeks. I got it taken care of recently, so hopefully if I get out of Tour Trials I'll be in better shape next year."

Archer has been exempt on the Denny's PBA Tour the last two seasons, but he finished 54th in the 2005-06 PBA World Point Rankings and did not earn an exemption for 2006-07. He'll have a chance to regain that exemption in this week's Denny's PBA Tour Trials, which begins Wednesday in nearby Hammond, Ind.

In the title match, Tomek trailed early but a double late in the match pulled him closer to Archer, who suffered four consecutive spares in frames 6-9. After a spare in the 9th frame, Tomek could have struck out in the 10th to beat Archer, but he left a 10-pin. Archer then struck with his first ball in the 10th for the win.

Monday started with 64 bowlers competing in best-of-three-games match play. Archer swept his first match against Vince Wood before winning each of his next three matches against Alex Cavagnaro, Paul Nicholas and David Traber by scores of 2-1. He then took care of Eddie Graham in the one-game semifinal match, 229-223.

Tomek, who was looking for his sixth career PBA Regional Tour title, advanced to the title match with a 183-161 win over Paul Gibson. Tomek will also compete in this week's Tour Trials.

2006/05/28

ムーンがポジションマッチ269で斉藤（234）を破り、トップシードでＴＶ決勝へ！ムーンは今日が37歳の誕生日で、JPBA初優勝を自分で飾れるか！2位にポジションマッチで矢島を204-182で破ったジョン、そして昨年と同様矢島が3位、水野が4位でＴＶ決勝進出を果たした。なお234を打ちながらムーンに負けた斉藤が次点5位となり初優勝はお預けとなった。

2006/05/27

山本勲（44期）が意地を見せ打倒パーカー・ボーンIIIへトップでラウンドロビン進出、2位に初優勝を目指す若手実力者斉藤茂雄（42期）、3位に今大会（キリンビール主催）気合い十分お酒大好きKPBAジョンテハ、そして予想通り？やっぱり来ましたパーカー・ボーンIIIが準決勝トップのスコア（226AVG）で23位から6位まで浮上。なお地元勢では玉井慎一郎（37期）が見事5位で進出、桜庭良弘（37期）も11位で進出した。

斉藤茂雄（42期）が後半6G1414（AVG235）とスコアを伸ばし前半14位から一気にトップへ！そして昨年プロ入りし、いきなりランキングトップに輝いた山本勲（44期）が2位で進出、それをKPBAの実力者ムーンとジョン、ヤンが追いかける。また1期生の大ベテラン矢島純一も4位で進出'90大会以来大会2勝目を目指す。

2006/05/21