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.
Loschetter Leads Going into Matchplay of USBC Masters
Chris Loschetter has retained the lead in the USBC Masters with a third block score of 1155 to bring his 15 game total score to 3498 (+498, 233.2 Average). Jason Belmonte has moved into second place with a score of 3421. Patrick Allen moved up into third at 3404. Chris Barnes and Ryan Shafer are in fourth and fifth with 3377 and 3369.
The field has been cut to the top 63 bowlers plus last year’s champion John Nolen. The cut score for the top 63 is 3068 (+68, 204.53 Average). Double Elimination matchplay will begin this evening at 4:00 Pacific Time, 7:00 Eastern Time. Matchplay will continue tomorrow (Friday) throughout the day. The TV Finals will be bowled Sunday afternoon on ESPN at 3:00 Eastern Time, 12:00 Pacific Time.
Mike Fagan Wins PBA Dick Weber Open
In the opening stepladder match of the 2009-2010 PBA One A Day Dick Weber Open, Bill O’Neill took on Ryan Shafer. O’Neill won the match, 226-200. Bill O’Neill went on to face #3 qualifier Pete Weber. Weber won the match, 214-202, to go on and face #2 qualifier Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Walter Ray won the match, 234-178, and advanced to bowl in the championship match against #1 qualifier Mike Fagan. Fagan continued to bowl well, as he had done all week, and beat Walter Ray, 241-213.
This is Mike Fagan’s first individual PBA Tour title. He has one doubles title, in the 2007-2008 PBA Exempt Doubles tournament with his teammate Danny Wiseman. Fagan came close to winning this same tournament last year, but fell just short, losing to Norm Duke in the championship match. The Chris Paul PBA Celebrity SNL Invitational will be taking place next week.
Mike Fagan used an Ebonite The Mission to win the tournament. See the rest of his equipment and the other pros’ equipment at my InTheBag page for the Dick Weber Open.
Mike Fagan Leads Field for PBA Dick Weber Open
Mike Fagan has been the top qualifier for the TV finals of the 2009-2010 PBA One A Day Dick Weber Open. Fagan finished with a total of 9136 (39 Games + Bonus Pins). This gave him a 172 pin lead over second qualifier Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Other qualifiers include Pete Weber (#3), Ryan Shafer (#4), and Bill O’Neill (#5).
The TV Finals will consist of stepladder matches, starting with O’Neill taking on Shafer, with the winner going on to bowl against Pete Weber. The show will be aired live on ESPN2 at 1:00, rather than ESPN this week. This tournament is being bowled on the 39 foot Dick Weber Open pattern, which was designed to force bowlers into making constant moves because of ongoing lane transitions.
DV8 Hell Raiser