Senior Masters Title Convinces
Webb to Complete Quest
For Senior Player of the Year Honor

As a competitor on the PBA Tour for more than a quarter century, Wayne Webb put together a Hall of Fame career capturing 20 titles including the Tournament of Champions and a Player of the Year crown. But two major titles — the U.S. Open and United States Bowling Congress Masters—eluded him.

On June 18, in a marquee matchup of two PBA greats, Webb defeated reigning PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr., 705-628, in the title match to win the USBC Senior Masters at the South Point Hotel and Casino Bowling Center in Las Vegas.

As the winner of the Senior U.S. Open in 2008 and 2009, Webb’s Senior Masters win gave him his third career Senior Tour major title and both Senior Tour counterparts of the prestigious majors missing from his PBA Tour resume. Webb, the 1980 PBA Player of the Year and 2008 Senior Tour Rookie of the Year, had best finishes in the U.S. Open and Masters on the national tour of second (1985) and fourth (1981), respectively.

Ironically, in careers where both Webb and Williams competed on Tour at the same time for approximately 20 years, their Senior Masters title match showdown marked the first time the two had ever met in a championship round.

“As it got down to the final matches, I was kidding Walter about how tired he must be after all those matches in the losers bracket,” Webb laughed. “I said I’d be happy to give him an early rest by handing him a loss in the first match of the final (which requires the losers bracket qualifier to win twice in the championship match for the title). Naturally, he said he would have no problem bowling two matches against me.

“If you lose early like (Walter Ray) did, it’s really an unbelievable effort in that double-elimination format to get to the championship match. I could only hope that he would run out of gas.”

While Webb was cruising along in the winners bracket, winning six matches to get to the championship match, Williams bowled non-stop for two days in the losers bracket after an opening-round loss to Hugh Miller, winning 10 consecutive three-game matches.

“The lanes were harder for me on the last day and for several matches I was struggling to shoot 200,” Webb said. “I could see Walter coming and I knew if I was going to bowl against him I was going to get run over if I didn’t turn it around.

“Even in the last game of the title match I was figuring if he threw 300 at me I would still have to shoot 191 to shut him out. He comes out with the first five strikes before he finally opens and I’m thinking come on, can’t you make it easy on me?”

Webb, who moved to the Columbus, Ohio area in early April to open Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, had planned to end his season after the Senior Tour’s two majors in Las Vegas to concentrate on his center operations. But after a win in the Senior Columbus Open, a runnerup finish in the season-opening Senior Dayton Classic and a ninth-place finish in the Senior U.S. Open, he’s a leading contender for Senior Player of the Year honors. As a result, he is planning to adjust his schedule so he can compete in the last three events of the season.

Williams — who won the Senior Miller High Life Classic in his Senior Tour debut in May — is also tentatively planning to compete in the remaining Senior Tour events which could turn into a shootout for Senior Player of the Year honors. Senior U.S. Open winner Mark Williams, reigning Senior Player of the Year Ron Mohr and Steve Ferraro are also in the mix but will need strong finishes.

“I have a great crew back at the center and a lot of support from my partner (Mike Irwin),” Webb said. “We’ll be spending the summer remodeling the whole center — from lanes to scoring units—but I think we’ll be at a place where I can be comfortable bowling the rest of the events. Plus, those tournaments won’t be far from home.”

The final three 2010 Senior Tour events are: PBA Senior Lake County Indiana Open, Aug. 9-12; PBA Senior Pepsi Open, Decatur, Ill., Aug. 14-17 and PBA Senior Jackson Open, Jackson, Mich., Aug. 21-24.