Pittsburgh’s Samuel Dewitt III Leads 15 Players into

PBA Players Championship Field After PTQ

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Feb. 12, 2019) – Samuel Dewitt III of Pittsburgh, Pa., will lead a field of 15 players into the PBA Players Championship when qualifying for the second major championship of the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season gets underway Wednesday at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.

Dewitt finished the pre-tournament qualifier Tuesday with a six-game 1,371 pinfall total (228.5 average) with games of 246, 187, 276, 200, 259 and 203 to out-distance Mykell Holliman of Collierville, Tenn., in second with a 1,261 pinfall.

Kyle Bigelow of Troy, Ohio beat Steve Pavlinko of Sewell, N.J., 235-182 in a one-game roll-off to earn the final advancing spot after tying with a 1,120.

To review the Players Championship field, click here: https://www.pba.com/Rosters/Details/2762

Qualifying in the Players Championship begins on Wednesday with six-game rounds at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET. Qualifying continues with the third round at 10 a.m. on Thursday with a cut to the top 24 players advancing to robin match play round Thursday at 6 p.m., and Friday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. After 42 games, the top five players will advance to Sunday’s live stepladder finals on FS1 at 1 p.m. ET.

Jason Belmonte, the winner of last week’s PBA Tournament of Champions for a record-tying 10th major title, will be trying to become the sole all-time majors leader with a win in the Players Championship.

Defending champion Tom Smallwood defeated Belmonte 259-239 in the title match of the 2018 Players Championship for his second major and third career tour title.

The Players Championship will also feature a $1 million bonus if a player can bowl a 300 game in Sunday’s title match.

Fans can follow all rounds of qualifying and match play through PBA’s online streaming partner, FloBowling. For schedule and subscription information visit FloBowling.com.

PBA PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday

Pre-Tournament Qualifier (after 6 games; top 15 advance to Wednesday’s qualifying)

1, Samuel DeWitt III, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1,371.
2, Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., 1,261.
3, Jason Lundquist, Columbus, Ohio, 1,252.
4, Geoffrey Young, Roanoke, Texas, 1,236.
5, Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas, 1,228.
6, Aaron Lorincz, Center Line, Mich., 1,215.
7, A.J. Rice, Salem, Ala., 1,212.
8, David Harold II, Columbus, Ohio, 1,206.
9, Zachery Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,185.
10, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 1,171.
11, Brandon Robertson, Venice, Fla., 1,158.
12, Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., 1,137.
13, Joe Bailey, Wooster, Ohio, 1,135.
14, Justin Knowles, Okemos, Mich., 1,129.
15, Kyle Bigelow, Troy, Ohio, 1,120.

Bigelow won one-game roll-off 235-182 to advance to Players Championship field

Failed to advance:

15, Stephen Pavlinko Jr., Sewell, N.J., 1,120.
17, Tim Pfeifer, Oakdale, Pa., 1,114.
18, Cody Shoemaker, Hanover, Pa., 1,104.
19, Kenneth Ryan, Morganville, N.J., 1,097.
20, Anthony Franz, Mount Vernon, Ohio, 1,077.
21, Charles Yancey, Marion, Ohio, 1,073.
22, Scott McIntire Jr., North Royalton, Ohio, 1,068.
23, Mike Eaton Jr., Wyoming, Mich., 1,056.
24, Richard McCormick, Cincinnati, Ohio, 991.
25, CL Smith, Rynoldsburg, Ohio, 869.