PBA Tournament of Champions and Players Championship Already a Critical

Stretch for Players in Young Go Bowling! PBA Tour Season

PBA Playoffs, $1 million 300 game bonus come into focus in season’s first major championships

CHICAGO (Jan. 30, 2019) – With the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season barely a month old, players already find themselves at a critical juncture in the PBA Playoffs race with two majors back-to-back in February.

Both are Tier 1 points events under the PBA’s new competition points system. The 54th PBA Tournament of Champions – PBA’s signature event that requires a player to have a PBA title to compete – gets underway Feb. 4-10 at AMF Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn, Ohio. It will be followed a week later by the PBA Players Championship, Feb. 12-17, at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl in Columbus, Ohio.

The Tournament of Champions stepladder finals will be televised live on FOX at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 10 and the Players Championship finals will air live on FS1 on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. ET.

In addition to the PBA Playoffs race, the Tournament of Champions and Players Championship will be the first tournaments to feature a $1 million bonus if a player bowls a 300 game in the title match of either stepladder final. While there have been 26 televised 300 games in the history of the PBA Tour, only two have been accomplished in the title match and neither of those took place in a major championship.

The two other opportunities to win the $1 million 300 game bonus will come in the title matches of the live Go Bowling! Indianapolis Open finals Sunday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 and PBA World Championship that will air as part of the PBA World Series of Bowling X in suburban Detroit on March 21 at 8 p.m. ET.

In the upcoming majors stretch, four-time PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte will again try to tie, and or break, the record for most PBA major wins. The nine-time majors champion made a run at the record in 2018 by finishing fourth in the Tournament of Champions and second in the Players Championship when he lost to Tom Smallwood, 259-239, in the title match. PBA Hall of Famers Earl Anthony and Pete Weber share the record for most major titles with 10. Weber also will bowl in both events, trying to take sole possession of the record.

Tournament of Champions defending champion Matt O’Grady of Rahway, N.J., made an incredible run to win the 2018 title, coming all the way from a pre-tournament qualifier to the stepladder finals where, as the No. 5 qualifier, he won all four stepladder matches culminating with a 207-193 title match win over Sweden’s Jesper Svensson to win his first PBA Tour title.

Competition points earned in both majors will be valuable for players who are competing for 24 berths in the inaugural PBA Playoffs. Players will continue to compile points through the USBC Masters which concludes April 1. The preliminary rounds of the PBA Playoffs will be held April 7-10 at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, which will air on FS1 throughout April and May with the top four players returning to Portland to compete for a $100,000 first prize – the richest in bowling – during the live finals that will air over two days (June 1-2) on FOX. To view the current PBA points list click on https://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/PointsList/132?list=1

Preliminary rounds of both the Tournament of Champions and Players Championship will be streamed live on FloBowling.com. Fans can purchase tickets for the finals by clicking onwww.pba.com/tickets.

For preliminary round tickets and pro-am entry information contact Riviera Lanes at (330) 836-7985 and Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl at (614) 491-7155.

PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS SCHEDULE

AMF Riviera Lanes, Fairlawn, Ohio (all times Eastern)

Monday, Feb. 4

3 p.m. – Pre-tournament qualifier

Tuesday, Feb. 5

2-4 p.m. - Practice Session

Wednesday, Feb. 6

11 a.m. - Qualifying Round 1 (6 games)

6 p.m. - Qualifying Round 2 (6 games)

Thursday, Feb. 7

11 a.m. - Qualifying Round 3 (6 games)

Top 24 players advance to Round Robin Match Play

6 p.m. - Match Play Round 1 (8 games)

Friday, Feb. 8

11 a.m. - Match Play Round 2 (8 games)

6 p.m. - Match Play Round 3 (8 games)

Top 5 players advance to Stepladder Finals

Saturday, Feb. 9

Pro-ams - 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 10

4:30 p.m. - Live stepladder finals on FOX

PBA PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio

Tuesday, Feb. 12

Practice session - 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

7:30 p.m. - Celebrity Pro-Am

Wednesday, Feb. 13

10 a.m. - Qualifying Round 1 (6 games)

4:30 p.m. - Qualifying Round 2 (6 games)

Thursday, Feb. 14

10 a.m. - Qualifying Round 3 (6 games)

Top 24 players advance to Round Robin Match Play

5 p.m. - Match Play Round 1 (8 games)

Friday, Feb. 15

11 a.m. - Match Play Round 2 (8 games)

5 p.m. - Match Play Round 3 (8 games)

Top 5 players advance to Stepladder Finals

Saturday, Feb. 16

Pro-ams - 3 p.m., 6 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 17

1 p.m. – Live stepladder finals on FS1