The PBA Tour

The Professional Bowlers Association tour is taking place right now. The PBA season started January 8th and ends in November. They have three major tournaments. Those are the USBC Masters, the PBA World Championship, and the Tournament of Champions. When a bowler wins all three, he is said to have won the Triple Crown. Only six bowlers in PBA history have won the Triple Crown. They are Billy Hardwick, Johnny Petraglia, Mike Aulby, Pete Weber, Norm Duke, and Chris Barnes. The PBA can be watched on ESPN.

There are many great bowlers on the tour. The bowler with the most PBA tour wins is Walter Ray Williams Junior. He has won 47 tour titles, which ranks him number one all-time.

This past Sunday during the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions, history was made. Sean Rash bowled the 23^rd 300 game on television. He is the only PBA bowler in history to roll two, 300’s on live television in a career. Interestingly, Rash didn’t win the tournament. Jason Belmonte, a two handed bowler from Australia won the major outlasting Sean Rash 235-203.

There are two major awards at the end of the PBA season. Those are Rookie of the Year and PBA Bowler of the Year. The PBA Bowler of the Year is voted on by bowlers on tour and a panel of veteran bowling journalists. The defending PBA Player of the Year is Jason Belmonte who has won it the last two years.

The best part of watching the PBA is to see how bowlers adjust on heavy oil conditions. Every tournament has a different pattern on the lanes. The patterns include Badger, Bear, Wolf, Viper, Shark, Scorpion, Chameleon, and Cheetah. Depending on how a bowler’s ball responds to the pattern, they will change their strategy. They may also use a different bowling ball. Oil on the lane is dyed blue. This shows participants what the pattern looks like and how it breaks down during the tournament. Catch all the PBA action on ESPN every Sunday this season.

            What is your experience watching the PBA tour over the years?