2021 PBA Summer Tour Begins Saturday with PBA Lubbock Sports Open First of five PBA Summer Tour titles to be awarded Sunday Lubbock, Texas—After a one-year hiatus, the PBA Summer Tour returns with five PBA Tour titles to be decided between now and the end of August. The PBA Lubbock Sports Open begins Saturday and concludes with the four-player stepladder finals Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. Every round of competition will be streamed live on FloBowling. Here are some of the top storylines heading into the 2021 PBA Lubbock Sports Open: Two Defending Champions? The last time the PBA Lubbock Sports Open was held was in January 2019, with Dick Allen defeating Sean Rash in the championship match. The last time a PBA Tour title was decided in South Plains Lanes was in June 2019, with Jakob Butturff defeating Stu Williams to win the Lubbock Sports Shootout as part of the PBA Summer Tour. For the sake of clarity, although both Allen and Butturff have a claim, Allen will officially enter as the defending champion. Butturff’s Success in Lubbock Butturff has bowled in four of the five Summer Tour events at South Plains Lanes and has never finished lower than third. He won in his first appearance in 2016, finished third in 2017, second in 2018 and won again in 2019. First-Time Champions The first time South Plains Lanes hosted a national title event in 2015, EJ Tackett earned his first career PBA Tour title. Likewise, Butturff’s win in 2016 was his first title. To date, Tackett and Butturff have combined to win 20 times (13 for Tackett and seven for Butturff), including three majors (two for Tackett and one for Butturff). Coincidence or not, any player who has not yet won a PBA Tour title might be extra motivated to make this event his first. Can Barnes Sweep Lubbock? PBA Hall of Famer Chris Barnes won his first career PBA50 title in the PBA50 Cup held June 30 in South Plains Lanes. Barnes, who won the PBA Lubbock Sports Open in 2018 as his 19th and most recent PBA Tour title, will be looking to repeat his success from three weeks ago to win for the 20th time on the PBA Tour. Troup Closing in on a Half Million Dollars So far this season, Kyle Troup has earned a single-season PBA record $489,200. If he can earn an additional $10,800 over the course of five PBA Summer Tour events, he’ll become the first player in PBA history to earn a half million dollars in a single season. A win in Lubbock would put him over the top. PBA Lubbock Sports Open Live Streaming Schedule South Plains Lanes – Lubbock, Texas Saturday, July 24 9:30 a.m. ET – Qualifying (A Squad) 4:30 p.m. ET – Qualifying (B Squad) Sunday, July 25 9:30 a.m. ET – Cashers Qualifying 1:15 p.m. ET – Match Play 5 p.m. ET – Stepladder Finals All rounds will be streamed live on FloBowling. To subscribe, visit FloBowling.com. PBA Lubbock Sports Open Winners Since 2015 2015 – EJ Tackett 2016 – Jakob Butturff 2017 – Marshall Kent 2018 – Chris Barnes 2019 (Lubbock Sports Open) – Dick Allen 2019 (Lubbock Sports Shootout) – Jakob Butturff 2020 – not held About the PBA The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.