PBA Tour

Qualifying for the PBA Tour

From the PBA Tour's inception through the 2003–04 season, most national PBA Tour events were open to the entire PBA membership. The initial tournament squads typically included well over 100 bowlers, who would roll a set number of qualifying games to determine the "cut line" for additional qualifying and/or match play (typically 64 bowlers).

The Exempt Tour (2004–05 through 2011–12)

Starting in October 2004, the PBA adopted an all-exempt national tour format. In this format, only 64 bowlers competed in most weekly events. Bowlers earned exemptions by winning a tournament during the previous season, winning one of the four major tournaments (thus gaining a multi-year exemption), placing among the top finishers in points, leading a region on the PBA Regional Tour (2005–2007), finishing in a high position at the PBA Tour Trials (2005–2008), or placing high enough at the PBA Regional Players Invitational Tournament (2008–2011).

Under this new format, bona fide status as a touring professional was not a guarantee; it had to be earned. The 2005 H&R Block Tournament of Champions was pivotal, as Randy Pedersen was facing the loss of his exempt status in the semi-final match against Norm Duke. On his final shot, Pedersen left a weak 7-pin and immediately singled out the sidelines, accusing a spectator of distracting him as he made his shot. From that point, Pedersen would have to bowl in the Tour Qualifying Round (TQR) in order to try making the initial field of 64.

Criticism of the format was brought forth by long-time PBA fans when popular 24-time winner Brian Voss lost his tour exemption following the 2006–07 season. 19-time titleist Amleto Monacelli also lost his exemption at the same time.

Depending on the season, a set number of bowlers (for example, 58 bowlers in the 2008–09 season) earned exemptions which automatically placed them in the starting field of 64 bowlers each week. The remaining spots needed to bring the field to 64 were awarded each week through the PBA Tour Qualifying Round (TQR), also called the "rabbit squad". PBA Commissioner Fred Schreyer would often award one spot in the field to a former touring pro under the Commissioner's Exemption, meaning even fewer spots were available via the TQR. For example, PBA Hall of Famer and Medford, Oregon resident Marshall Holman competed on a Commissioner's Exemption at the Bayer Earl Anthony Medford Classic held in that city in January 2009.

During the TQR, amateur and non-exempt PBA bowlers bowled 7 games of qualifying. The top amateur bowler advanced (no matter where he or she finished), along with the top-scoring PBA members needed to round out the field. In the 2007–08 PBA season, rookie Rhino Page made a remarkable five TV finals appearances (winning one title) despite having to bowl in the TQR every week.

Qualifying via PBA Tour Trials and RPI

From 2005 to 2008, the PBA held the PBA Tour Trials in late May/early June to determine the bowlers who would will fill the remaining open spots on the following season's exempt player list. The number of exemptions awarded at the PBA Tour Trials varied—10 spots were available in 2006–07, but only seven spots at the start of the 2007–08 and 2008–09 campaigns. That number could increase or decrease due to injury deferments for currently exempt bowlers. At the Tour Trials, non-exempt PBA and international bowlers bowled nine games each day for five straight days on the five primary PBA oil patterns. (See "PBA Tour lane preparation" later in this article.)

At the 2006 Denny's PBA Tour Trials, Kelly Kulick made history by becoming the first woman to ever gain a PBA exemption (she was exempt for the 2006–07 season). (Before it dissolved, Kulick was the 2001 Rookie of the Year on the PWBA, won the 2003 U.S. Women's Open, and was a three-time member of Team USA.) Kulick later earned a two-year exemption to the main PBA Tour with her victory in the 2010 Tournament of Champions; she had earned her spot in that event by winning the PBA Women's World Championship, the tour's first major championship in its Women's Series.

From 2009 to 2011, the Tour Trials were replaced by the PBA Regional Players Invitational (RPI). For the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, the top eight finishers at the RPI were offered PBA Tour exemptions, though not all of them accepted. At the 2011 RPI, 58-year-old Kerry Painter finished eighth and made history by becoming the oldest player to ever earn a PBA Tour exemption.

Exempt Tour discontinued (2012–13 and beyond)

In November 2011, the PBA announced that they will discontinue the exempt tour format for the 2012–13 PBA Tour season. Due to the changing climate of the Tour itself, the number of all-exempt events had been steadily declining in the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons, until there were only three exempt events for the 2011–12 season.

This change means that all but two events during the 2012–13 PBA national tour will be open to all players.

The two notable exceptions to the open policy are the PBA Tournament of Champions (TOC) and the Round1 Japan Cup. The TOC accepts only the most recent 48 PBA Tour titleists (with a "Touring 1" or "Touring 2" status), plus past winners of the TOC itself. The Japan Cup invites the top sixteen PBA Tour bowlers (based on final points standing of the previous season), and four at-large PBA Tour players selected by the tournament committee.

While the "exempt player" designation was removed, the PBA announced that players will be able to earn "Touring 1" and "Touring 2" statuses, which will offer certain benefits and bonuses. "Touring 1" status will be awarded to all bowlers who enter at least 80 percent of a season's tournaments, including the World Series of Bowling, at least two majors, and at least three PBA Xtra Frame events. "Touring 2" status will be awarded for players entering at least 60 percent of a season's tournaments, including the World Series, at least one major, and at least one Xtra Frame event. To earn either status, players must also average 190 or higher in PBA Tour events.

While the PBA points list no longer affects exempt status, there will still be incentives for finishing high on the list — such as eligibility for certain tournaments like the PBA Players Championship (begun in 2011–12).

Finals formats

Prior to the debut of the PBA on ABC television in 1962, most tournaments were organized where, once the cut was established after qualifying rounds, a set number of match-play games were bowled, and bonus pins were given to the winner of each match. The champion was then decided based on the final overall total pinfall.

From 1962 to 1965, ABC started televising the PBA Tour, starting with a limited number of tournaments on ABC's Wide World of Sports, and later having its own timeslot. Therefore, a round-robin tournament format was implemented to determine the champion. The televised finals would be cut to the top four bowlers after match-play, and then three round-robin matches between the fourth, third and second-seeded bowlers would determine the final two bowlers. If any bowler were to win both of his matches in the round-robin, he would go on to face the tournament leader. If the three bowlers each split their matches to go 1 and 1 in the round-robin, total pinfall would decide which man would advance to the final match to face the tournament leader. The winner of the final match would win the tournament.

From the late 1960s to 1997 (with the exception of one year), televised events were done in a "stepladder" format. Four matches would be held, with the #5 and #4 seeds from the qualifying rounds meeting first. The winner of the first match would bowl the #3 seed, and likewise up to the top spot.

ABC experimented in 1993 with a King Of The Hill format. Under this arrangement, only the top four seeds made it to the television finals, instead of five, with the traditional stepladder format. The #4 and #3 seeds met first, with the winner facing the #2 seed, and that winner then facing the #1 seed. The winner of the tournament faced the current "King" for an additional cash prize. The winner of the King of the Hill match would then bowl the winner of the following week's tournament. The "King" could defend his title even when not competing in the event hosting it. The tour resumed its normal "stepladder" format the following year.

The bowler who won himself the most notoriety for winning "King" matches was Ron Williams, who won only four tourneys in his career, yet held the "King" spot for five consecutive weeks that year.

Special formats were also used on occasion in conjunction with Old Spice deodorant, which sponsored a Winning Never Gets Old challenge annually in the mid-1990s. The winner of the championship would bowl a Seniors Tour bowler for the rights to an extra $10,000.

When the PBA Tour moved to CBS in 1998, a two-match format was adopted. Again going to four bowlers, the #2, #3, and #4 players bowled in one "shootout" match, with the winner facing the tournament's #1 qualifier for the championship. From 1998 to 2000, also, the PBA used gold-colored pins with black stripes or crowns (depending on if Brunswick or AMF was involved in the alley) for their televised finals. The pins returned to regular white in 2001.

When the PBA Tour introduced the World Series of Bowling during the 2009–10 season, the televised finals for all tournaments in the series used the four-man stepladder format. During the 2011 WSOB, an "eliminator" format was used. The top four qualifiers all bowled together, and the top three scorers would move on to the next match, with the lowest score finishing in fourth place. The next match would then take the two top scorers (low score finishing in third place), and these two bowlers competed head-to-head in the final match. Starting in 2012, the WSOB switched back to the four-man stepladder format, with the exception of the PBA World Championship which featured a five-man stepladder final.

The Road to the Finals

After the PBA's sale and move of broadcasts to ESPN, most tournaments used a "bracketed" format. Each bowler bowled nine qualifying games, with the top 64 by pinfall competing in best 4-of-7 head-to-head matches. The four remaining bowlers from match play competed in two semi-final matches (#4 seed vs. #1 seed, and #3 seed vs. #2 seed), followed by a final match of the semi-final winners. A few tournaments still used the stepladder format for the finals.

In January 2005, the PBA tournament format was modified because of the all exempt tour. Non-exempt bowlers bowled on the first day to determine the additional six (or more) bowlers who qualify for the tournament (on top of the exempt field). The second day consisted of 64 bowlers rolling 14 games (two 7-game blocks) to determine the 32 bowlers who made "match play" on the third day. Seeding of the top 32 was based on a rolling points list of the 20 previous events.

The third day featureed 32 bowlers competing in potentially 21 matches in a single day. It started with the first round in the morning, followed by the second round ("Round of 16") after lunch. That night, the quarterfinal ("Round of 8") matches were conducted. All matches were a best 4-of-7 format. The four quarterfinal winners made the field for the televised finals. Depending on the finals format, a fifth bowler could be added based on highest pinfall among the quarterfinal non-winners.

The championship round remained single head-to-head matches for semifinals and finals on the final day. Beginning in the 2009–10 season, a majority of the finals had returned to the stepladder format.

2009–10 changes

For the first five exempt events of the 2009–10 season, the starting field consisted of 72 bowlers all rolling 14 games of qualifying in one day (two blocks of 7 games each) to determine the top 28. The top four bowlers by pinfall automatically earned a spot in the Round of 16 match play. The other 12 spots for the Round of 16 were determined in a separate match play round for the #5 through #28 seeds. The eight winners from the Round of 16 match play then bowled a final match play round to determine the four bowlers who advanced to the TV finals.

All match play rounds were on the second day of the tournament, and all were best 4-of-7 matches.

Top 20 in PBA titles

The following are the top titles winners in PBA Tour history. The table lists the name and the number of titles. Players who are still active on the regular PBA Tour are indicated.

In May 2008, the PBA announced that it was revising its all-time records to include USBC Masters and BPAA All-Star titles if they were bowled by a PBA member. American Bowling Congress (the merger took place in 2005) Masters titles prior to 1998 and BPAA All-Star (U.S. Open prior to 1971) titles were previously not counted as PBA titles. They are now counted as both a PBA title and a major title. The most significant impact of this change is that Dick Weber moves from a 9th place tie on the all-time titles list to 7th place (30 titles) while picking up four more majors (all BPAA All-Star events). Also, Earl Anthony is credited with two more major titles, both being USBC Masters, giving him a record ten majors among his 43 total titles. Pete Weber is tied with Earl Anthony with 10 total major titles after Pete Weber's win in the 2013 PBA Tournament of Champions.

Player of the year

The PBA Player of the Year began being officially recognized in 1963. It was awarded by The Sporting News from 1963–70, and by the PBA membership from 1971–2007. Some factors used in the voting process for a given season included major titles, total titles, Tour average ranking, points ranking, season earnings and TV finals appearances. In 1999, the award was officially renamed the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year, in honor of the legendary broadcaster who covered bowling on national television for 35 years.

Billy Hardwick was the first bowler to be awarded an official PBA Player of the Year honor, and is also the youngest (22) to ever win the award. The mid-1970s to early-1980s were dominated by Earl Anthony and Mark Roth. The two won 10 of the 11 P.O.Y. awards between 1974–84, and faced off in many memorable finals. Walter Ray Williams Jr. has won the most P.O.Y. awards (7), one more than Anthony. Williams is also the oldest bowler to be named Player of the Year, earning the 2009–10 award at age 50.

In the 2007–08 season, a new Player of the Year system was instituted, where a points system only determined the winner. Chris Barnes became the first Player of the Year winner under this new system in 2008, edging out Walter Ray Williams Jr. by two points. The points-only system lasted just three seasons, and by the 2010–11 season, a player vote was again part of the process.

PBA Tour lane preparation

Unlike the typical "league condition" or "house shot", which facilitates a fairly consistent pattern and wider target area, the PBA rotates five challenging lane oil patterns throughout the season. The patterns — known as Cheetah, Viper, Scorpion, Shark and Chameleon — feature varying oil volumes and lengths that require pros to adjust ball angle, rotation and speed accordingly. On some patterns, certain "strike lines" (areas of the lane) are unplayable, and spare shooting becomes much more important. This means a 220 average on the PBA Tour would easily translate to 20-30 pins higher on a typical league shot.

To put this theory to the test, the PBA held a special "Ultimate Scoring Championship" in the 2008–09 season, with pro bowlers competing on a typical league lane condition. The event took place November 9–11, 2008 in Taylor, Michigan, prior to the PBA Chameleon Championship that took place in the same bowling center. The lane conditions indeed proved easier for the professionals, as 3 of the 4 finalists averaged better than 250 during match play.

Custom oil patterns are used for the four major tournaments. In addition, the PBA introduced the Dick Weber pattern for two 2008–09 tournaments (including the Denny's Dick Weber Open), plus a newly designed "Earl" pattern for the Earl Anthony Medford Classic.

Though most PBA pros tend to bowl their best on one or two of the PBA oil patterns, two players, Mika Koivuniemi and Tommy Jones, have managed to win at least one title on all five of the standard "animal" patterns.

The USBC is also grasping the PBA lane conditions. Called the USBC PBA Experience, amateurs are able to experience and test their bowling skills against PBA-like conditions, by participating in a USBC sanctioned league style called Sport Bowling.

For the 2013 World Series of Bowling and into the 2014 season, the PBA began using lane oil that is dyed blue for televised matches, thus helping viewers not only see the pattern layout but also see how the play area changes from game to game. Said ESPN Coordinating Producer Kathy Cook, "Until now, one of the most crucial and least understood aspects of the game was invisible."

2009–10 World Series of Bowling

In a cost-cutting effort, the PBA split the 2009–10 season into two segments. The first, the 2009 World Series of Bowling, consisted of seven PBA Tour events—including one major tournament (PBA World Championship) – held in August and September 2009 in Allen Park, MI, near Detroit. All of the events ran in a split format: the early rounds of each tournament were held on consecutive days in August and September, and ESPN television taped the final rounds for the tournaments on Labor Day weekend (September 5–7). These were aired on seven Sundays, October 25 through December 6, 2009.

The final rounds for the Women's and Senior PBA World Championship were taped September 5 and were broadcast on October 25. The final round for the "open" PBA World Championship was broadcast live on December 13.

The Motor City Open and PBA World Championship were open to the entire PBA membership. The fields for the five exempt events were increased from 64 to 72, with the additional spots going to TQR qualifiers and the new "Golden Parachute" entry reserved for a formerly-exempt player. Under the Golden Parachute rule, any formerly exempt PBA member who lost his/her exemption during past four years was able to apply for this new exempt position. (It was awarded to 24-time PBA titleist Brian Voss.) Following the 2009–10 season, the Golden Parachute exemption will come only from the previous year's crop of players who lose their exemption due to points.

The exempt PBA Women's Series fields were increased from 16 to 20. The Women's Series added qualifiers for the exempt events to fill two of the four additional spots.

The second half of the season, running January–April 2010, consisted of 11 traditional touring weekly tournaments, including the remaining three majors. Each event ended with the live ESPN television finals on Sundays. The second half also included three special (non-title) televised events: the Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational, the PBA Experience Showdown, and the PBA Women's Series Showdown.

2010–11 season

The PBA announced in May, 2010 that it would again cover all of the Fall tournaments for the upcoming season at the World Series of Bowling. The second annual event was held October 24 through November 6, 2010 at South Point Hotel, Casino and Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It consisted of five title events, qualifying for the PBA World Championship, and one non-title, made-for-TV event. Based on input from players, as well as corporate partner and ESPN television needs, there were some revisions to the series:

The format for the second half of the 2010–11 season included the remaining three majors (USBC Masters, Tournament of Champions and U.S. Open), as well as the first-ever Dick Weber PBA Playoffs. The 2011 Tournament of Champions had the largest prize fund ($1 million U.S.) and largest first-place prize ($250,000 U.S.) in PBA history.

2011–12 season

The PBA announced in June 2011 that it would again cover all of the Fall tournaments for the upcoming season at the World Series of Bowling, and that the event would have a $1 million prize fund. The event was held November 4–20, 2011 and returned to the South Point Hotel, Casino and Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It included both the qualifying and final rounds of the PBA World Championship, the first major tournament of the season.

The second half of the PBA Tour season includes the three remaining majors (USBC Masters, Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open and Tournament of Champions), plus four additional title events.

2012–13 season

The PBA announced in June, 2012 that the 2012–13 PBA season will include an unprecedented 40 title events. The season began in November, 2012 with the 2012 World Series of Bowling and will conclude with a second World Series of Bowling starting in November, 2013. There are 15 international stops on the 2012–13 tour, which are now counted as PBA titles if won by a full-fledged PBA member. The 14-month season is in preparation for a return to a calendar year national tour format in 2014. The PBA has not had a calendar year format since the 2000 season. The PBA also abandoned its "exempt player" tour format prior to this season.

PBA Tour major championships

The PBA Tour has four events that are considered major tournaments over the history of the organization:

The PBA Players Championship (formerly Touring Players Championship) has been held off and on since the 1980s, and is considered fifth major tournament.

USBC Masters

Current defending champion: Jason Belmonte

Note: In May 2008, the PBA announced that it was revising its all-time records to include ABC Masters titles prior to 1998 if the person who earned the title was a PBA member at the time.

PBA World Championship

Current defending champion: E. J. Tackett

Originally the PBA National Championship, this event was renamed the PBA World Championship in 2002–03.

Tournament of Champions

Current defending champion: E. J. Tackett

United States Open

Current defending champion: Francois Lavoie

PBA Triple Crown

The three "original" major championships (PBA World Championship, Tournament of Champions and U.S. Open) make up the PBA's "Triple Crown."

Only six bowlers in the history of the PBA have won all three jewels of the Triple Crown in their careers:

Of the six, Pete Weber is the only player to have won each Triple Crown event at least twice in his career (five U.S. Opens, two PBA World Championships, and two Tournament of Champions titles). Despite 47 and 43 titles respectively, Walter Ray Williams and Earl Anthony are not Triple Crown winners. As mentioned, Anthony never won the U.S. Open, though he finished runner-up in the event three times. Williams has yet to win the Tournament of Champions, but he has a runner-up finish there.

PBA Grand Slam

Mike Aulby and Norm Duke are the only two of the six PBA "Triple Crown" winners who have also won the ABC/USBC Masters, thus giving them the unofficial "grand slam" of pro bowling. Aulby also won a Touring Players Championship, making him the sole owner of a PBA "super slam".

Don Carter is also noted for having won all four possible "majors" during his career (PBA National Championship, BPAA All-Star, World Invitational and ABC Masters), however some of these were not PBA events.

PBA Tour in the media

The PBA provided its first televised event in 1962, and became a Saturday afternoon staple on the ABC schedule from 1965.

In its heyday, ABC's Professional Bowlers Tour outranked all sporting events on Saturdays with the exception of college football telecasts.

The 1991 Tournament of Champions was delayed for over thirty minutes at the start due to a bomb threat being phoned in at Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn, Ohio. The ABC telecast joined in during the evacuation's final stages and featured interviews with local officials, as well as classic clips from previous T of C telecasts.

In 2005, ESPN Classic began televising old bowling broadcasts daily, including some of the more memorable ones in which bowlers shot perfect games or records were set. All of the telecasts originally aired on either ABC or ESPN since those are the tapes to which the network owns the rights.

Televised conversions of the "impossible splits"

Mark Roth, whose first career title was captured at the 1975 King Louie Open in Kansas by rolling a televised 299 game, gained immortality by becoming the first bowler to convert the almost-impossible "7-10 split" on national television in the first match of the ARC Alameda Open on January 5, 1980. In 1991, John Mazza and Jess Stayrook also accomplished this feat on television. During the 2005–06 season, Walter Ray Williams Jr. became the only bowler to convert the 4-6-7-10 "big four" combination on television.

Perfect and near-perfect televised games

There have been 26 perfect games bowled in nationally televised regular PBA tournaments. Jack Biondolillo rolled the first one at the 1967 Tournament of Champions, and Ronnie Russell bowled the most recent one in the opening match of the WSOB Chameleon Championship finals on November 2, 2014 (broadcast December 28, 2014). Two of the 24 perfect games (fifth and sixth overall) have been bowled in the final title match, first by Bob Benoit at the 1988 Quaker State Open and then by Mike Aulby at the 1993 Wichita Open. There have also been two on Senior PBA Tour telecasts, by Gene Stus (1992) and Ron Winger (1993).

Of several 299 games that were bowled on televised championships, the most memorable occurred on April 4, 1970 when Don Johnson defeated Dick Ritger to win the 1970 Firestone Tournament of Champions at Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn, Ohio. With 11 strikes already down, he threw his 12th ball, stepped back and dropped to the floor. The ball hit the pocket, but the 10-pin remained standing. Johnson, still on the floor, briefly lowered his face into his hands, then stood up to a thunderous ovation. Johnson's wife Mary Anne was also crying prior to the shot, and crying even more after Johnson got up from the floor. Along with the trophy and $25,000 check from Firestone, Johnson also received the 10-pin that denied him both an extra $10,000 and a new Mercury Cougar automobile for a perfect game (In the post-match interview with the Johnsons, Mary Anne was holding the pin). The footage of this has been replayed many dozens of times in flashback segments on PBA telecasts. The online bowling channel Xtra Frame has named this the most memorable moment of the events history.

The 2011 event saw the highest ever gap between winner and loser of 199 pins. Tom Daugherty bowled the 100 and ran around celebrating, while receiving a standing ovation. Later on, Mika Koivuniemi bowled the 299, and dropped to the floor lying on his back after the 1-pin came back over to the 10-pin (in what is often dubbed a "messenger strike"), but the 10-pin did not fall. Koivenuemi also received a standing ovation. Unlike Don Johnson, who bowled his 299 in the championship match, Mika threw his 299 in Match 1.