A little work goes a long way. At least that's the case for Denny's PBA Tour exempt bowler Jeff Carter.

Carter, who entered this week's 64th U.S. Open 42nd on the PBA World Point Rankings, currently sits on top of the 489 bowler field after two days of qualifying at Brunswick Zone Carolier.

Carter, who has a 12-game pinfall of 2,673, credited work with his ball rep for his early success in the Open, the second of four PBA Majors.

"To be honest (Storm Ball Rep Chris) Schlemer and I have been working a lot the last couple weeks and some of the things we've been working on are really coming together, so I guess I owe it all to him," said Carter (Springfield, Ill.). "There are a lot of problems in my physical game we've been trying to fix. This is as good as I've felt physically in a while. It's nice when things like that come together. I matched up really well the last couple days."

Carter opened Wednesday's action with a 235 followed by four consecutive games over the 200 mark, including a 256 in game four, to finish with a six-game total of 1,319.

Wes Malott (Argyle, Texas) is 30 pins behind Carter in second with 2,643. Malott, who finished with 1,282 in six games on Tuesday, improved with 1,361 on Wednesday.

Mika Koivuniemi (Hartland, Mich.) is in third with 2,631 after finishing Wednesday with 1,293.

Rounding out the top four is Ritchie Allen (Columbia, S.C.). Allen, who was to be exempt on the 2006-07 Denny's PBA Tour before receiving an injury exemption to the 2007-08 Denny's PBA Tour, ended Wednesday action with 1,241 for a 12-game total of 2,604.

In a tournament known for low scores and challenging lane conditions, Tommy Delutz Jr. made sure he took advantage of the one day in which he could rack up high scores.

Delutz averaged 239.67 with a 1,438 six-game pinfall Tuesday to take the lead after day one of the 64th U.S. Open, the second of four Major events on the Denny's PBA Tour.

The 492-bowler field is split into three squads over the first three days of qualifying. The first and third squads bowl on freshly oiled lanes, while the second squad bowls on lanes already broken down which typically results in higher scores. Each squad bowls at different times during the three days of qualifying.

"This is old school bowling today. The U.S. Open starts tomorrow for me," Delutz (Flushing, N.Y.) said. "If you are an exempt bowler or a top amateur, this is where you get your pins. You stock up your pins here and then try to survive the fresh tomorrow."

Bowling on the second squad Tuesday, Delutz came out on fire with a 279 in game one. After a 194 and 201 in games two and three, Delutz averaged 254.67 over the final three games to build a huge lead.

A two-time Denny's PBA Tour titlist, Delutz is looking for his first Major title. He has not historically bowled well in the U.S. Open, finishing no better than 40th the last five seasons.

"I usually despise the U.S. Open," Delutz said. "Since the PBA went to set oil patterns, I've done horrible at the U.S. Open. But it's my first time home since January 2 and I'm able to sleep in my own bed. Even with this being a Major, I have a low level of stress this weekend."

Finishing second with 1,376 was 62nd U.S. Open champion Chris Barnes (Double Oak, Texas). The eight-time titlist who captured this season's GEICO Classic, is one of several bowlers looking to break out this week and take control of a wide open PBA Player of the Year race. This week's event is one of three Majors in the final four events of the 2006-07 season.

Ritchie Allen (Columbia, S.C.) who returned to the lanes this week after missing the entire season to date due to a right hand injury, is fifth with 1,363.

In addition to Barnes, three other former U.S. Open champions are in the top 30, as three-time U.S. Open winner Pete Weber (St. Ann, Mo.) is 22nd with 1,303, two-time champion Del Ballard Jr. (N. Richland Hills, Texas) is 27th with 1,284 and one-time winner Mika Koivuniemi (Hartland, Mich.) is ninth with 1,338.

The entire field returns Wednesday for another six games, followed by the final six game block on Thursday after which the field will be cut to the top 123. Those 123 will bowl another nine games on Friday to determine the final 24 bowlers for round robin match play.

The top four after Saturday's match play will bowl for the $100,000 top prize and three-season exemption live on ESPN Sunday at Noon EST at Brunswick Zone Carolier.

300 games (1) - Lonnie Waliczek.

They say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but on the Denny's PBA Tour, Emerson Lanes has been hit with a historic lightning bolt two years running.

Mike Mineman became just the second bowler in Tour history to win a title after advancing through the Denny's PBA Tour Qualifying Round, joining Sean Rash who became the first in last year's West Virginia Championship at Emerson Lanes.

Mineman, a 48-year-old journeyman who is a stark contrast to the 24-year-old Rash who won as a virtual unknown on Tour last year, defeated Mike Machuga, 223-202, Sunday to win the 2007 Bayer Classic for his first career title.

Emerson Lanes hosted a PBA Tour event in 1965 and then did not host another Tour stop until last season, when Rash came out of nowhere to win the title. Mineman was appearing in his 41st career Tour event and had never previously advanced past the Round of 16. He earned $25,000 and an exemption for the 2007-08 season with the win.

"It's tough to go through that (Qualifying Round) on Wednesdays, but the gentlemen did it last year and paved the way and proved it could be done," said Mineman (Belleville, Ill.), who didn't even cash at Emerson Lanes last year. "It's just been a magical week. It's everything I ever thought it would be."

The title match came down to the last frame despite Mineman leading throughout as Machuga had a chance to tie the match and send it to a one-ball sudden death roll-off.

Working on a four-bagger while Machuga was working on an open in the 7th, Mineman made a crucial mistake when he chopped the 4-pin off the 2-4-5 to let Machuga back in the match, and he responded with a double in the 8th and 9th.

After a nine-spare, Mineman struck out the 10th, forcing Machuga to strike out to tie. Machuga left the 10-pin with his first shot, however, to give Mineman the win.

Mineman advanced to the title match with a 217-178 win over Dale Traber. Traber led after four frames before splits in the 5th and 7th frames. Mineman took advantage with a double in the 6th and 7th to take the lead, then struck again in the 9th and 10th frames to move on to the title match.

In the first semifinal, Machuga defeated all-time Denny's PBA Tour title leader Walter Ray Williams Jr., 264-223.

Machuga (Erie, Pa.) took home $13,000 for second, while Traber (Cedarburg, Wis.) earned $6,500 for third and Williams (Ocala, Fla.) earned $5,500 for fourth.

　【JPBA】　DHC ツアー 2006/07　第４戦　【ＴＶ決勝】

予選1位の清水弘子が準決勝でもトップのスコアをたたき出し(5G=237AVG)81ピン差でトップ！2位に今季開幕戦の「DHC第1戦｣」を制した吉田真由美、3位に大健闘のアマチュア森本由希選手がつけている。また久しぶりに斉藤志乃ぶ（6位）・時本美津子（9位）・金田惠子（10位）の大御所3人が揃い踏みでラウンドロビン進出を果たした。

昨年6勝を挙げた清水弘子が今年も圧倒的な強さを見せトップで準決勝進出！そして2位板倉奈智美・3位吉田真由美・4位加藤八千代とシードプロが上位を独占。

Mike Mineman knew coming into the 2007 Bayer Classic that Emerson Lanes might contain some magic. After watching Sean Rash become the first-ever non-exempt bowler on the Denny's Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour to win a title in the building last year, Mineman knew there might be something special about the center.

The right-hander from Belleville, Ill., wasn't the only bowler to think so as a Denny's PBA Tour record 114 bowlers entered Wednesday's Tour Qualifying Round. Mineman finished fifth in Wednesday's seven-game qualifying round and advanced to Thursday's Round of 64, where he finished 12th.

Mineman followed Thursday's finish by knocking off 2005-06 PBA Player of the Year Tommy Jones and 16-year Tour veteran Mike Scroggins before eliminating Eugene McCune, four-games-to-one, Friday to advance to Sunday's finals.

"I was here for Sean Rash's win last year. It was awesome. He paved the way and showed it's possible. It'll be very difficult but as Sean proved, it's possible," said Mineman. "I always wondered about how it (making the finals) would happen and how I would react. I think it's going to take a couple of days for it to really set in. It's been kind of magical."

Mineman will face Dale Traber (Cedarburg, Wis.) in one of two Sunday semifinals. Traber advanced by knocking off Richard Wolfe (Vienna, Va.), 4-1.

Sunday's first semifinal will feature Mike Machuga (Erie, Pa.) taking Denny's PBA Tour all-time titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. (Ocala, Fla.).

Machuga, who entered the Round of 32 seeded No. 31, scored the biggest upset in Friday's opening round, taking down PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III in seven games, throwing a perfect game in the seventh for the win. Machuga then dispatched of Marv Sargent, 4-2, and Billy Oatman, 4-1.

Williams, who owns 42 career titles compared to the other three bowlers' combined one title, went seven games with Mike Wolfe in the Round of 8, winning the final game 228-216.

On the highest scoring pattern on the Denny's PBA Tour, Kelly Kulick showed she can more than keep up with the men.

Kulick, the first woman to earn a full-season exemption on the Denny's PBA Tour, averaged 246.21 over her 14 games Thursday to finish sixth in the 2007 Bayer Classic Round of 64 at Emerson Lanes.

The 29-year-old finished sixth out of 140 bowlers at last summer's Denny's PBA Tour Trials to earn one 10 exemptions given out that week. She has struggled in her rookie season, making matching play just three times in 15 events coming into this week and is 54th in the PBA World Point Rankings. She needs to finish in the top 40 - or win a title - to stay exempt for next season.

Kulick started with a bang Thursday, firing a 299 in the first game. She sat 18th after the first seven games, but averaged 253.43 over the final seven with no games under 230 to move up to sixth.

"I had two bad games today, one was just a bad pair (of lanes) and the other I missed two spares so that was my fault," said Kulick (Union, N.J.). "Tonight I came out and the lanes were different than the first block but I made a good ball choice and I was very aggressive with my ball speed. I threw a couple bad shots and got some good breaks, I must admit."

Kulick will have the unenviable task of facing all-time Denny's PBA Tour titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. in the Round of 32. Williams was 50th after the first seven games, but averaged 244.29 over the final seven to finish 27th.

Leading the field with a 3,507 14-game pinfall and a 250.50 average was Andrew Cain (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Cain is bowling in just his fifth Tour event as a PBA member but has already posted two top-eight finishes, including a TV appearance and a fourth-place finish in the 2007 Dick Weber Open in his first career event.

Cain will face No. 32 Dave D'Entremont (Middleburg Heights, Ohio), who fired a 240 in the final game to edge out Chris Barnes (Double Oak, Texas) by 10 pins for the final spot in match play.

Last week's Go RVing Classic winner Patrick Allen (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) finished third and will face No. 30 Mike Wolfe (New Albany, Ind.)

300 Games (8) - Parker Bohn III, Jason Couch, Tommy Delutz Jr., Mike DeVaney, Patrick Girard, Chris Hayden, Riga Kalfas, Mike Mineman.

Though the debate over who is the best left-handed bowler on the Denny's PBA Tour will never end, Patrick Allen can lay stake to that claim for at least one week.

In a final round featuring the top three lefties currently on Tour, Allen captured his ninth career Denny's PBA Tour title and second this season with a 218-169 win over Parker Bohn III Sunday to win the 2007 Go RVing Classic at Thunderbowl.

Allen took advantage of some uncharacteristic mistakes by the 30-time titlist and PBA Hall of Famer Bohn, who missed a 7-pin conversion in the 5th frame and left a 6-8 split and opened in the 8th frame to give the top-seeded Allen the breaks he needed.

As the top seed, Allen exacted some revenge in stepladder finals. The previous three times a top seed had won in the stepladder format, Allen was the victim in the title match including this season's 2007 Dick Weber Open where he fell to Jason Couch in the title match.

"Parker bowled a good game even tough he shot 170. He only missed the pocket twice, but that open in the 8th frame was the real momentum-swinger," Allen said. "Fortunately for me, I made a good ball change on the right lane and a marginal shot in the 9th carried and that was the difference."

The fourth-seeded Bohn flagged the 7-pin in the 5th while Allen was working on a double. Allen threw his third consecutive strike in the 6th, but then made a crucial mistake of his own, leaving the 4-6-8-10 split and opening in the 7th. Bohn responded with a double but then left the 6-8 and opened, allowing Allen to clinch the match with a strike in the 9th frame.

The win was Allen's fourh in the last five events on the Chameleon pattern and fifth overall in his career.

Bohn averaged 249 in winning the first three matches to advance to the title match. He defeated second-seeded Jason Couch, who was looking for his third title of the season, 245-193, in the semifinal. Bohn also defeated third-seeded Riga Kalfas, 235-205, who was making his first career TV appearance, and fifth-seeded Mike Edwards, 267-191.

Allen (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) took home $25,000 for the win while Bohn (Jackson, N.J.) earned $13,000 for second. Couch (Clermont, Fla.) took home $6,500 for third, Kalfas (Florence, Ky.) earned $5,500 for fourth while Edwards (Tulsa, Okla.) earned $5,000 for fifth.