Norm Duke Wins U.S. Open
The U.S. Open took place this past week, concluding on Sunday, February 27, 2011. This event is held on the toughest of all of the PBA patterns, the flat U.S. Open pattern. The difficulty of this pattern was shown in the TV finals this weekend.
The first match had two former Collegiate All-Americans and Bowlers of the Year at Saginaw Valley State University in Bill O’Neill and Dan MacLelland. O’Neill was able to take over this match early and won decisively, 204-150. O’Neill went on to bowl against Ryan Shafer in the last Saturday night match. In a close match, Shafer was able to win, 193-183, as O’Neill left a split in the 10th frame. Shafer moved on to bowl against Mika Koivuniemi in the first Sunday match. Both bowlers scored well, but Mika was able to pull ahead and win the match, 236-222, and advance to the semifinals against Tommy Jones. Mika Koivuniemi continued to bowl well, as Jones struggled, and won the match, 241-158.
Mika Koivuniemi went on to face tournament leader Norm Duke in the finals. In a close match that went back and forth, it came down to the 10th frame. Norm Duke threw all strikes in the 9th and 10th frames to force Mika to mark in the 10th. Mika threw a great shot in the 10th, but left a 10 pin. All that was left was to cover the spare and get 8 pins on the fill ball. Off his hand Mika knew he had made a bad shot, as the ball fell into the gutter in front of the 10 pin. Norm Duke had won the match, 225-216, and the tournament.
After the match was over, both bowlers were visibly sick to their stomachs. As Norm Duke was happy to win, his feelings of sympathy toward Mika Koivuniemi strongly overpowered his happiness.
“I sat there stunned, shocked,” Duke said. “I knew I had just won the U.S. Open, but at that moment, my only thought was Mika had just lost. I was just like a fan watching in the living room. How could you not feel badly for him.”
“Mika will be fine, he’ll bounce back. He’s going to be our Player of the Year,” Duke said. “But he’ll never forget that one.”
In winning the U.S. Open, Norm Duke has won his 34th career PBA title and his 7th career PBA Major title.
Tommy Hess Wins USBC Masters
The USBC Masters TV finals started with Mika Koivuniemi bowling against Mike DeVaney. Mika continued to bowl great, as he has done all season and won the match. This put Mika in the semifinals against the #2 bowler, Tom Hess. Tommy Hess bowled a great match and was able to defeat Mika Koivuniemi to move onto the finals against #1 bowler Jack Jurek. The finals match went back and forth between the two bowlers, with Hess being victorious in the end. By winning the USBC Masters, Hess takes home the first prize of $50,000.
Lambert Maintains Lead at USBC Masters
George Lamber IV has kept his lead from day of the USBC Masters throughout day 2 of this event. After 2 rounds of qualifying, Lambert is leading at 2356 (+356, 10 games, 235.6 Average). After the second round, the field was cut to the top 25% (65 bowlers). The remaining bowlers will bowl another 5 game block and the field will then be cut to the top 63 plus last years champion, Walter Ray Williams, Jr. These 64 bowlers will advance to matchplay this evening, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011.
After 2 second round, the top 10 looks like this:
1, George Lambert IV, Canada, 2,356.
2, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., 2,345.
3, Tommy Jones, Greenville, S.C., 2,299.
4, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2,297.
5, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 2,274.
6, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 2,255.
7, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2,253.
8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,250.
9, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 2,247.
10, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 2,234.
10, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,234.
For full results, see the USBC Masters page.
Lambert Leads Day 1 of USBC Masters Qualifying
George Lambert IV has jumped out to an early lead in the qualifying rounds of the 2011 USBC Masters. Lambert has averaged 251.2 for the first 5 games to give himself a 52 pin lead over second place. At the end of day 1, this is what the top 10 looks like:
1, George Lambert IV, Canada, 1,256.
2, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,200.
3, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 1,168.
4, J.R. Raymond, Saginaw, Mich., 1,167.
5, Mathew Jones, Avondale, Ariz., 1,160.
6, Mark Scuderi Jr., Rochester, N.Y., 1,159.
7, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 1,157.
8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,152.
9, Joshua Kierpiec, Scottsville, N.Y., 1,151.
10, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., 1,150.
Qualifying will continue throughout the day Wednesday and Thursday, with matchplay beginning Thursday evening. Matchplay will conclude on Friday evening, with the top 4 bowlers advancing to the TV finals on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011.
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