Bill O’Neill Helps Norm Duke Lock Up Final Berth in PBA Clash

Jason Belmonte to lead elite eight-man field into end-of-season special event

CHICAGO (Sept. 25, 2019) – The end-of-season PBA Clash field of the eight leading PBA players based on Go Bowling! PBA Tour earnings for 2019 is set in the aftermath of Saturday’s FloBowling PBA ATX Invite where Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, locked up Norm Duke’s berth in the Clash.

When O’Neill, the ATX Invite winner, defeated Kyle Sherman of O’Fallon, Missouri, in the first elimination round of the Invite, 280-212, Sherman’s hope to make the elite PBA Clash field also was over. Sherman needed to win the $25,000 first prize to overtake the PBA Hall of Famer from Clermont, Florida, for eighth place on the earnings list.

Duke, who didn’t qualify to participate in the ATX Invite, qualified for the Clash with $97,415 while Sherman, who earned $3,750 as a first-round loser in the final event of the FloBowling PBA Summer Tour, finished the Clash qualifying period with $85,965.

The second PBA Clash will be contested on Monday, Oct. 21, at Kegel Training Center in Lake Wales, Florida, for airing on FOX on Sunday, Nov. 3. Marshall Kent, who won the inaugural PBA Clash, didn’t qualify for this year’s event. The following players (with their 2019 earnings totals) will compete for the $50,000 first prize in the Clash:

            1, Jason Belmonte, Australia, $275,290.

            2, Jakob Butturff, Mesa, Ariz., $185,780.

            3, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., $177,148.

4, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., $175,248.

            5, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., $170,445.

            6, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, $159,340.

            7, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., $127,968.

            8, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., $97,415.