Jason Belmonte Qualifies No. 1 as Field of 24 Heads to Portland, Maine for Inaugural PBA Playoffs

$100,000 first prize awaits the winner in live FOX telecast on Sunday, June 2

LAS VEGAS (April 1, 2019) – After a stunning start to the 2019 Go Bowling! Professional Bowlers Association Tour season, Australia’s Jason Belmonte ran away with the competition points race that served as the prelude to the inaugural PBA Playoffs, an historic event that will get underway on April 8 at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine.

The right to earn berths in the Playoffs ended with Monday’s finals of the United States Bowling Congress Masters at Gold Coast Bowling Center and now the PBA’s elite players head to Maine for an unprecedented series of 10 telecasts on FOX Sports’ FS1 and FOX channels, culminating with back-to-back live telecasts of the semifinal and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2, on FOX.

Thanks to record-setting performances thus far in 2019, including PBA Tournament of Champions and PBA World Championship titles for a PBA-record 11th major championships, Belmonte will lead the PBA’s 24 best players in 2019 who are headed to Bayside Bowl where the race to a $100,000 first prize in the inaugural PBA Playoffs will be decided.

The opening round of Playoffs matches will air live on FOX Sports’ FS1 channel on Monday, April 8 at 7 p.m. Eastern.

The seven other 2019 competition points leaders who have earned a first-round bye in the single-elimination match play PBA Playoffs, automatically advancing to the Round of 16, are Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., who moved into second place based on his victory in the USBC Masters; Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla.; Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas; EJ Tackett , Bluffton, Ind.; Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill.; Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., and Tom Daugherty, Tampa, Fla.

The players who qualified ninth through 24th will bowl one-game single-elimination matches in the Round of 24 beginning with live coverage of the first four matches on FS1 on April 8. The next four single-game Round of 24 matches will air on FS1 on Monday, April 15.

Round of 24 winners will advance to the Round of 16 for Race-to-2-Points matches against the eight top qualifiers. The Race to 2 Points format means each game won is worth one point. If the players split the first two games, a ninth-and-10th frame roll-off will award the deciding point. The pairings and FS1 telecast schedule for the entire PBA Playoffs are listed below.

Round of 16 and Round of 8 matches will be contested April 9 and 10 at Bayside Bowl to reduce the field to four survivors who will return to Portland for the semifinal and final rounds June 1-2, with both shows airing live on FOX at noon Eastern.

FINAL GO BOWLING! PBA TOUR COMPETITION POINTS STANDINGS

(Top 8 earn first-round byes in PBA Playoffs; top 24 qualify for the PBA Playoffs; top 40 are eligible to enter the 2019 PBA League Draft)

1, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 29,300.

2, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 24,660.

3, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 18,295.

4, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 18,010.

5, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 17,850.

6, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 13,585.

7, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 13,200.

8, Tom Daugherty, Tampa, Fla., 12,990.

9, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 12,720.

10, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 12,580.

11, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 12,335.

12, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 11,985.

13, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 11,640.

14, Dom Barrett, England, 10,155.

15, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 9,908.

16, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 9,778.

17, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 9,700.

18, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 9,078.

19, Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 8,725.

20, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 8,675.

21, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 8,465.

22, DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 8,335.

23, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 7,510.

24, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 7,480.

25, Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., 7,470.

26, AJ Chapman, Wichita, Kan., 7,375.

27, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 7,115.

28, Patrick Girard, Canada, 7,050.

29, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 6,788.

30, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 6,625.

31, Nicholas Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 6,615.

32, Mitch Hupé, Canada, 6,588.

33, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa., 6,533.

34, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 6,475.

35, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 6,325.

36, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 6,038.

37, Stuart Williams, England, 6,005.

38, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 5,845.

39, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 5,633.

40, Zacharay Wilkins, Canada, 5,540.

PBA PLAYOFFS FS1 TELECAST SCHEDULE

Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine, April 8-10 (all times are Eastern)

Round of 24 (one game, single-elimination matches; losers earn $3,000)

Monday, April 8, live on FS1, 7 p.m. (order of matches to be determined)

Match 1 – Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas vs. Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C.

Match 2 – Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill. vs. Darren Tang, San Francisco

Match 3 – Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla. vs. Shawn Maldonado, Houston

Match 4 – Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C. vs. Andres Gomez, Colombia

Monday, April 8 (FS1 air date Monday, April 15, 8 p.m.; order of matches to be determined)

Match 5 – Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas vs. Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz.

Match 6 – Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash. vs. Jesper Svensson, Sweden.

Match 7 – Dom Barrett, England vs. Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo.

Match 8 – Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo. vs. DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas.

Round of 16, Tuesday, April 9 (Race to 2 points based on one point per game won; losers earn $5,000; FS1 air date Monday, April 22, 9 p.m.)

Match 9 – Winner Match 1 vs. Jason Belmonte, Australia.

Match 10 – Winner Match 2 vs. Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla.

Round of 16, Tuesday, April 9 (Race to 2 points based on one point per game won; losers earn $5,000; FS1 air date Monday, April 29, 9 p.m.)

Match 11 – Winner Match 3 vs. Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas.

Match 12 – Winner Match 4 vs. EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind.

Round of 16, Tuesday, April 9 (Race to 2 points based on one point per game won; losers earn $5,000; FS1 air date Monday, May 6, 9 p.m.)

Match 13 – Winner Match 5 vs. Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz.

Match 14 – Winner Match 6 vs. Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa.

Round of 16, Wednesday, April 10 (Race to 2 points based on one point per game won; losers earn $5,000; FS1 air date Monday, May 13, 9 p.m.)

Match 15 – Winner Match 7 vs. Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla.

Match 16 – Winner Match 8 vs. Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill.

Round of 8, Wednesday, April 10 (Race to 2 points based on one point per game won; losers earn $8,000; FS1 air date Monday, May 20, 9 p.m.)

Match 17 – Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10

Match 18 – Winner Match 11 vs. Winner Match 12

Round of 8, Wednesday, April 10 (Race to 2 points based on one point per game won; losers earn $8,000; FS1 air date Monday, May 27, 9 p.m.)

Match 19 – Winner Match 13 vs. Winner Match 14

Match 20 – Winner Match 15 vs. Winner Match 16

Semifinal Round (Race to 2 points based on one point per game won; losers earn $20,000; live on FOX, Saturday, June 1, noon)

Match 21 – Winner Match 17 vs. Winner Match 18

Match 22 – Winner Match 19 vs. Winner Match 20

Championship (format to be decided; winner earns $100,000, loser earns $40,000; live on FOX, Sunday, June 2, noon)

Championship Match – Winner Match 21 vs. Winner Match 22