Butturff, Sherman Retain Top Spots in FloBowling PBA Summer Tour Points

Harry O’Neale Chesapeake Open winner Bill O’Neill jumps from 35th place to fourth

CHICAGO – Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona, and Kyle Sherman of O’Fallon, Missouri retained the top two spots on the FloBowling PBA Summer Tour competition points list following the conclusion of the PBA Harry O’Neale Chesapeake Open Sunday, but Chesapeake winner Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and runner-up AJ Chapman of Manchester, Iowa, made big moves after the third event in the 10-event program.

Butturff and Sherman, who were tied for first place prior to Chesapeake, were separated into first and second places, respectively, based on their 12th and tied-for-17th finishes, respectively. Butturff won the Summer Tour opener in Lubbock, Texas; Sherman teamed with PWBA titlist Amanda Greene to win his first PBA Tour title in the Storm PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles in Houston.

AJ Johnson of Oswego, Illinois, was in third place going into Chesapeake and retained his position after an 11th place finish.

O’Neill, ranked 35th after the Summer Tour’s first two events, moved into fourth place, picking up 2,500 points in the Tier 2 tournament. Chapman, in 31st place prior to Chesapeake, climbed into fifth place after earning 1,500 as runner-up.

The FloBowling PBA Summer Tour points race involves incentives including bonus cash to the top five in the USBC Cup points standings, eight berths in the end-of-summer FloBowling ATX Invite and eight expenses-paid trips to China for the inaugural PBA China Tiger Cup in November. All are part of the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule.

The second stop on the eastern swing – the PBA Wilmington Open – is set for Tuesday and Wednesday at Ten Pin Alley Family Fun Center in Wilmington, North Carolina. Two-hander Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas, won his third career title in Wilmington’s inaugural PBA Tour event in 2017, and Puerto Rico’s Cristian Azcona is the defending champion.

Following Wilmington, PBA players will complete their eastern swing Friday through Sunday at Mid-County Bowling & Entertainment Center in Middletown, Delaware, where Simonsen won the 2018 Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic.

Fans can follow the summer points races (USBC Cup, FloBowling ATX Invite and PBA China Tiger Cup) by clicking on this link: https://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/PointsList/132?list=10. Points also play a key role in selection of PBA’s 2019 Player and Rookie of the Year, and for entry priority consideration for selected 2020 PBA Tour events.

The FloBowling PBA Summer Tour heads to the Midwest after Delaware for the PBA Bowlerstore.com Classic presented by Moxy’s Xtra Pair at Pla-Mor Lanes in Clearwater, Ohio, followed by the FloBowling PBA Summer Swing presented by the Brands of Ebonite International at Parkside Lanes in Aurora, Illinois, where the PBA Wolf, PBA Bear and Illinois Open titles will be at stake.

The Aurora tripleheader will be the final points event in the Summer Tour leading into the FloBowling ATX Invite at Dart Bowl in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 21. All PBA Summer Tour events except the Illinois Open are Tier 3 events (2,500 points for first place) while the Illinois Open is a Tier 2 event (double the Tier 3 points including 5,000 points for first).

The entire FloBowling PBA Summer Tour will be livestreamed exclusively on FloBowling. For start-to-finish coverage of all events, visit FloBowling.com and sign up for a subscription.

2019 FLOBOWLING PBA SUMMER TOUR POINTS STANDINGS

(After three of nine events; previous ranking in parenthesis)

1, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 3,095 (T1)

2, Kyle Sherman, O'Fallon, Mo., 2,935 (T1)

3, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 2,870 (3)

4, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,865 (35)

5, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 2,020 (31)

6, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 1,925 (8)

7, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 1,915 (4)

8, Stuart Williams, England, 1,850 (5)

9, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,845 (6)

10, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 1,495 (12)

11, Greg Young, Viera, Fla., 1,425 (45)

12, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,355 (7)

13, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 1,255 (9)

14, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,250 (41)

15, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 1,240 (10)

15, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, 1,240 (30)

17, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,235 (34)

18, Dom Barrett, England, 1,220 (28)

19, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1,140 (11)

20, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,000 (14)