Sunday, June 24, 2007

Amateur Win Senior U.S. Open

Rick Minier defeated David Ozio, 240-223, to win the 2007 PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Suncoast at the Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vagas, Nevada.
In a battle of two Texans, it was an amateur who came out on top over a Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Hall of Famer in the 2007 PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Suncoast.
Rick Minier (Houston, Texas) put together a string of six consecutive strikes to defeat David Ozio (Beaumont, Texas), 240-223, in the title match of the stepladder finals to capture his first career PBA Senior Tour title.
The second-seeded Ozio opened the title match with three strikes while the top seed Minier spared in the first and doubled in the next two frames.
It was in the fourth frame where the tide of the match changed. After leaving a 10-pin on his first shot, Ozio, who won the 2004 PBA Senior U.S. Open, missed the spare conversion leaving an open frame in the midst of Minier’s six-strike string.
Minier’s string was snapped in the eighth with an open frame of his own, but the amateur struck in the ninth and with his opening shot in the 10th to close out the match and capture his first career title.
“This is definitely the biggest title I’ve ever won. I’ve won some nice tournaments, but this is the biggest,” said Minier. “I was nervous out there. I posted a good shot every frame except for the eighth when I hung up the split. But this is hard to top. It doesn’t get any better than this.
In the semifinal match Ozio knocked off two-time defending U.S. Open champion Tom Baker (King, N.C.), 226-196. Baker was in trouble after five frames, picking up only two strikes to Ozio’s four. Ozio allowed Baker back into the match with three spares in frames six through nine, but closed the door with a double in 10th frame.
In the first stepladder match Baker defeated the fourth seed Bob Handley (Winter Park, Fla.), 239-215. Baker used strikes in five of the first six frames and was aided by a Handley open in the sixth to take the final’s first match.
With the win Minier takes home $20,000 and a berth into the 2008 PBA Tournament of Champions. Ozio earns $11,000 for second. Baker earns $7,000 and Handley $5,500 for their third and fourth place finishes, respectively.
The PBA Senior Tour next heads to Klamath Falls, Ore., for the PBA Senior Epicenter Classic. June 24-27.

PBA Senior Tour
PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Suncoast
Suncoast Bowling Center
Las Vegas, Nev.
Friday, June 22

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Pos. Name/hometown Total/Games Money
1. Rick Minier (Houston, Texas) 240 (1 game) $20,000
2. David Ozio (Beaumont, Texas) 449 (2 games) $11,000
3. Tom Baker (King, N.C.) 435 (2 games) $7,000
4. Bob Handley (Winter Park, Fla.) 215 (1 game) $5,500
SCORES – In the first stepladder match, Tom Baker def. Bob Handley, 239-215. In the second match David Ozio defeated Baker, 226-196. In the finals, Rick Minier defeated Ozio, 240-223.Minier wins his first career PBA Senior Tour title.

ROUND-ROBIN MATCH PLAY(Pos., name, hometown, win-loss record, 51-game pinfall. Thirty bonus pins awarded for a victory and 15 bonus pins for a tie.)

1, Rick Minier, Houston, Texas, 12-12-0, 12,089. 2, David Ozio, Beaumont, Texas, 16-8-0, 12,038. 3, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 19-5-0, 12,020. 4, Bob Handley, Winter Park, Fla., 13-10-1, 11,906. 5, Terry Leong, Las Vegas, 17-7-0, 11,866. 6, Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 13-11-0, 11,850.
7, Sam Zurich, Grant, Fla., 13-11-0, 11,707. 8, Brian Brazeau, Ocala, Fla., 11-13-0, 11,692. 9, Rohn Morton, Vancouver, Wash., 10-14-0, 11,669. 10, Ross Packard, San Jose, Calif., 11-11-2, 11,651. 11, Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 15-8-1, 11,635. 12, Steve Neff, Homosassa Springs, Fla., 12-12-0, 11,581.
13, Tim Miller, Irving, Texas, 13-11-0, 11,566. 14, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 11-13-0, 11,529. 15, Kerry Painter, Henderson, Nev., 9-14-1, 11,517. 16, Ron Hosler, Denver, Colo., 13-11-0, 11,515. 17, Ron Winger, Las Vegas, Nev., 7-16-1, 11,496. 18, Dave Patchen, Oregon, Ohio, 10-13-1, 11,484.
19, Joe Salvemini, Las Vegas, Nev., 9-14-1, 11,450. 20, Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 9-15-0, 11,442. 21, Mark Roth, Fulton, N.Y., 9-14-1, 11,396. 22, Nick Morgan, Sacramento, Calif., 10-14-0, 11,374. 23, Jeff Jamison, Boulder City, Nev., 11-12-1, 11,356. 24, Vaughn Doody, Las Vegas, 10-14-0, 11,076.

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