BUTTURFF WIN LAS VEGAS OPEN

Arizona’s Jakob Butturff Wins PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open

Tommy Jones wins $10,000 bonus as season-long Xtra Frame Tour points leader

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 30, 2016) – Jakob Butturff of Chandler, Ariz., won his second career Professional Bowlers Association Tour title Sunday in the PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open at South Point Bowling Plaza in a championship round that featured three of the PBA’s rising stars.

Butturff, who won his only other title earlier in the year in the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open in Texas, struck on 10 of his first 11 shots to defeat 19-year-old Anthony Simonson of Princeton, Texas, 277-211.

Butturff, a 22-year-old left-hander, led the field after 32 games of qualifying and match play by 448 pins, winning 14 of his 16 matches Sunday without an open frame. Except for his 218 game to start the tournament, the second-year PBA member led all the way to the final match.

“Everyone performed great,” Butturff said. “I just had to make as many good shots as they did.

“My mom was diagnosed with cancer recently, so I really wanted to win this one for her. One thing I’ve learned is that when someone has cancer, you have to keep their spirits up and I know she likes it when I bowl well. My title was basically for her.

“I’ve just been successful bowling here in Vegas; it was more of a comfort feeling than anything,” he added.

Simonsen, who won both of his PBA Tour titles earlier in the year, won the semifinal match in a strike-fest against 21-year-old Swedish two-hander Jesper Svensson, 267-258. The battle of contenders for 2016 PBA Player of the Year honors began with Simonsen throwing seven strikes to start the match while Svensson, the Tour’s only three-time winner in 2016, converted three single-pin spares before rolling eight strikes in a row to finish his game.

In the first match, Simonsen struck on four of his first five shots before leaving the 4-6-7-10 split, but O’Neill had trouble gaining ground, leaving 10 pins on five of his first seven shots. He finally got on track with a late string of four strikes, but Simonsen recovered from his big split with a string of six strikes for a 242-224 victory.

Simonsen also struck on four of his first five shots against Jones in the second match, but Jones, after converting spares in his first three frames, threw three strikes to catch up. A 4-6-10 split in Jones’ seventh frame, however, gave Simonsen an opening and he jumped on it, throwing another string of five strikes to knock Jones out of the finals, 248-191. 

With his fourth-place finish, Jones earned 17 points in the final PBA Xtra Frame Tour event of the year and captured the $10,000 winner-take-all bonus with a season-ending total of 87 points to overtake E.J. Tackett, who finished with 84 points, and Ryan Ciminelli, who had 83.

The PBA Fall Classic continues Monday at South Point Bowling Plaza with qualifying rounds in the PBA Team Challenge, a high-powered five-player team competition that will conclude Tuesday. Twenty teams representing a broad mix of PBA Hall of Famers, PBA50 Tour stars, women, rising future stars and international players from 11 different countries will bowl six standard and 12 Baker format team games Monday at noon and 8 p.m. ET (9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT). The top six teams will advance to a six-game round of Baker format match play Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT), leading to four-team Baker format stepladder finals at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT).

All competition in the PBA Fall Classic is being covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online video-streaming service, Xtra Frame. To subscribe, visit xtraframe.tv.

PBA XTRA FRAME SOUTH POINT LAS VEGAS OPEN

South Point Bowling Plaza, Las Vegas, Sunday

Final Standings

1, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., $10,000.

2, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, $5,000.

3, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, $3,000.

4, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., $2,000.

5, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., $1,500.

Stepladder Results:

Match One – Simonsen def. O’Neill, 242-224.

Match Two –  Simonsen def. Jones, 248-191.

Semifinal Match – Simonsen def. Svensson, 267-258.

Championship –  Butturff def. Simonsen, 277-211.

Final Match Play Standings (after 32 games, including match play bonus pins):

1, Butturff, 14-2, 8,504.
2, Svensson, 10-6, 8,056.
3, Jones, 10-5-1, 7,961.
4, O'Neill, 9-7, 7,845.
5, Simonsen, 8-8, 7,833.

6, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 6-9-1, 7,787, $1,400.
7, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 7-9, 7,760, $1,350.
8, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 8-7-1, 7,706, $1,300.
9, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 10-6, 7,701, $1,250.
10, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 7-9, 7,689, $1,200.
11, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 6-10, 7,684, $1,150.
12, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 6-10, 7,674, $1,100.
13, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 8-8, 7,614, $1,075.
14, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 7-9, 7,554, $1,050.
15, Ryan Graywacz, Feeding Hills, Mass., 6-9-1, 7,484, $1,025.
16, Joe Bailey, Wooster, Ohio, 4-12, 7,366, $1,000.

300 Games: Anthony Simonsen, Ildemaro Ruiz, Jesper Svensson, Michael Haugen Jr.