Bill O’Neill Wins PBA Harry O’Neale Chesapeake Open for 11th Career Title

Top qualifier closes with four strikes to turn back AJ Chapman’s bid for his first PBA Tour title

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Aug. 11, 2019) – Top qualifier Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, finished with four strikes to turn back a rally by AJ Chapman of Manchester, Iowa, and win the Go Bowling! Professional Bowlers Association Tour’s Harry O’Neale Chesapeake Open Sunday at AMF Western Branch.

O’Neill, who earned his 11th career PBA Tour title and second of the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season, jumped into an early lead with five strikes to start the title match while Chapman left a 3-6-7-10 split and failed to convert in his third frame. Chapman, the No. 2 qualifier, rallied behind a string of four strikes to close his deficit to three pins, but O’Neill struck out to end Chapman’s bid for his first PBA Tour title.

“Everything this week, with the urethane equipment I was using, was about staying slow,” O’Neill said. “Just to win an event when you’re not playing your ‘A’ game means a lot.

“I’ve worked on my game a lot this year, mainly on ball speed,” he continued. “I throw it too hard when I’m doing bad, but I’m bowling a lot smarter and I think the end of the game showed that.”

In the midst of arguably his best season in his 14-year career, the 37-year-old O’Neill has had third, fourth and fifth place finishes in addition to winning the PBA Hall of Fame Classic to start the year and later finishing second in the inaugural PBA Playoffs.

Greg Young Jr. of Viera, Florida, a 23-year-old rookie who had not finished higher than 30th in any previous PBA Tour appearance, eliminated 10-time PBA Tour champion Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, 216-192, in the first match of the four-player stepladder finals. But Young ran into immediate trouble in the semifinal match against Chapman, leaving splits that resulted in three unconverted spares in the first five frames as Chapman coasted to a 233-160 victory.

The Harry O’Neale Chesapeake Open, named in honor of the long-time PBA South Region manager who was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 2016, was the third of 10 events that are part of the FloBowling PBA Summer Tour. The FloBowling PBA Summer Tour resumes Tuesday at Ten Pin Alley Family Fun Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, with an eight-game qualifying round in the PBA Wilmington Open.

The Wilmington Open will be livestreamed in its entirety Tuesday and Wednesday on FloBowling, followed by the PBA Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic from Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment in Middletown, Delaware, Saturday and Sunday. For subscription information, visit FloBowling.com.

For current FloBowling PBA Summer Tour competition points standings that affect the USBC Cup, FloBowling PBA ATX Invite and PBA China Tiger Cup invitation lists, visithttps://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/PointsLists/132.

PBA HARRY O’NEALE CHESAPEAKE OPEN

AMF Western Branch, Chesapeake, Va., Sunday

Final Standings:
1, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., $10,000,

2, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, $5,000.

3, Greg Young, Viera, Fla., $3,000.

4, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, $2,500.

Playoff Results:

Match One – Young def. Malott, 216-192.

Semifinal Match – Chapman def. Young, 233-160.

Championship – O’Neill def. Chapman, 257-216.

Final Round of 8 Standings (after 17 games; top 4 advanced):

1, O’Neill, 3,719.
2, Chapman, 3,677.
3, Malott, 3,659.
4, Young, 3,647.
5, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,622, $2,100.
6, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 3,606, $1,800.
7, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 3,576, $1,500.
8, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, 3,531, $1,300.

Round of 16 Cashers (after 15 games, top 8 advanced):

9, Dom Barrett, England, 3,155, $1,200.
10, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 3,128, $1,100.
11, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3,126, $1,000.
12, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 3,115, $900.
13, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 3,112, $875.
14, Tim Pfeifer, Oakdale, Pa., 3,109, $850.
15, n-Ricky Boyters, Newport News, Va., 3,074, $825.
16, Matt Sanders, Evansville, Ind., 3,051, $800.

Other Cashers Round (after 12 games; top 16 advanced):

17 (tie), Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., and Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 2,502, $763.
19, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 2,500, $745.
20, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 2,499, $740.
21, Michael Davidson, Versailles, Ohio, 2,494, $735.
22, Michael Martell, Brooklyn, N.Y., 2,490, $730.
23, Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., 2,487, $725.
24 (tie), Kip Roberts, Glen Allen, Va., and Brandon Curtis, Manson, N.C., 2,483, $718.
26, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 2,475, $710.
27, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,473, $705.
28, Jeff Keller, Chesapeake, Va., 2,466, $700.
29, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 2,463, $695.
30, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 2,452, $690.
31, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,449, $685.
32, Mykel Holliman, Collierville, Tenn., 2,447, $680.
33 (tie), Chris Polizzi, Spring Hill, Fla., and Zacharay Wilkins, Canada, 2,441, $673.
35, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,437, $665.
36, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,434, $660.
37, n-Josh Garner, Hampton, Va., 2,422, $655.
38, Kenneth Ryan, Farmingdale, NJ, 2,420, $650.
39, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 2,410, $645.
40, Victor Florie Jr, Richmond, Va., 2,404, $640.
41, James Grago, Hampstead, N.C., 2,400, $635.
42, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 2,397, $630.
43, Trevor Roberts, Crystal River, Fla., 2,395, $625.
44, Mike Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., 2,379, $620.
45, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 2,367, $615.
46, Dick Allen, Lexington, S.C., 2,340, $610.
47, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2,328, $605.
48, n-Allen Levet, Glen Allen, Va., 2,230, $600.

n-denotes non-PBA member.

PBA WILMINGTON OPEN

(A 2019 FloBowling PBA Summer Tour event)

Ten Pin Alley Family Fun Center, Wilmington, N.C. (All times Eastern)

Monday, Aug. 12

4 p.m. - Practice Session

5 p.m. – New player orientation meeting
6:30 p.m. - Pro-am
Tuesday, Aug. 13

9 a.m. - A Squad, eight qualifying games
3 p.m. - B Squad, eight qualifying games

            Top 1/3 of field advances to cashers round
Wednesday, Aug. 14

9 a.m. – Cashers round, four games (top 16 after 12 games advance)

11:30 a.m. – Round of 16, three games (top 8 after 15 games advance)

1:30 p.m. – Round of 8, two games (top 4 after 17 games advance)

3 p.m. – Top 4 stepladder finals

PBA GENE CARTER’S PRO SHOP CLASSIC

(A 2019 FloBowling PBA Summer Tour event)

Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment, Middletown, Del., Aug. 16-18 (all times Eastern)

Friday, Aug. 16
11 a.m. - Practice session

2:30 p.m. – AB Sports Youth Scholarship Pro-am
5:15 and 8 p.m. – Anchor Buick-GMC/Williams Chevrolet adult pro-am squads

Saturday, Aug. 17
8 a.m. - A Squad, 7 qualifying games

4 p.m. – B Squad, 7 qualifying games
            Top one-third of field after 7 games advances to cashers round

Sunday, Aug. 18

9 a.m. – Cashers round, 4 games (top 16 after 11 games advance to match play)

12:30 p.m. – Top 16, 12 games modified round robin match play (top four after 23 games advance to stepladder finals)

5 p.m. - Top 4 stepladder finals