Tommy Jones (bowler)

PBA career history

Jones joined the PBA in 2000. He currently owns 18 PBA Tour titles, two of them major championships. He won his first 12 titles in just 20 TV Finals appearances.

2004–05 season

After making the TV finals just four times over his first three full seasons on the PBA Tour and failing to win a title, Jones had his breakout season in 2004–05. Jones made the cut to match play in 20 of 21 events and was perfect in the TV finals, winning the title in all four of his final round appearances. He won $224,130 on the season, which was more than his previous three full seasons (66 tournaments) combined. Despite the four tournament wins, Jones finished runner-up to Patrick Allen in the 2004–05 Player of the Year race.

2005–06 season

The 2005–06 season was his best to date, as he cashed in 20 of 21 events, made match play in 19 events, made the TV finals six times, won four titles, and posted a career-best $301,700 in earnings. He won his first career major in this season, at the 63rd U.S. Open.

In 2005, Jones stopped Liz Johnson in her efforts to become the first female to win a national PBA tour event. After Johnson defeated Wes Malott in the semifinals of the 2005 Banquet Open, she came up short against Tommy in the final, 219–192.

In this season, Jones had a 15-game TV match win streak snapped, falling one short of the all-time record set by Jim Pencak. Upon winning the 2005–06 Player of the Year award, Jones joined Mike Aulby as the only players to win both the PBA Player of the Year and PBA Rookie of the Year awards. Chris Barnes and Jason Belmonte would later also earn this distinction.

2006–07 season

In 2006–07, Jones captured two more titles (9th and 10th overall), including his second major at the H&R Block Tournament of Champions.

2007–08 season

With his 11th tournament win at the 2008 ConstructionJobs.com Championship in Reno, NV, Jones joined Mika Koivuniemi as the only two bowlers to win a title on all five of the PBA's "animal" oil patterns (Shark, Chameleon, Cheetah, Scorpion and Viper). He would also win the GEICO Classic in West Babylon, NY for his 12th PBA title.

2008–09 season

The 2008–09 PBA season was the first since 2003–04 where Jones did not earn a title, although he did cash in 20 of the 21 events he participated in.

2009–10 season

He had seven top-ten finishes in 2009–10, and won his 13th title in the 2010 Dydo Japan Cup, the final title event of the season.

2010–11 season

In an abbreviated PBA season, he had four top-ten finishes in 12 events, including a third-place finish at the U.S. Open.

2011–12 season

Jones won $45,000 in the PBA All-in Showdown at the 2011 World Series of Bowling, an optional, non-title event that required a $5,000 buy-in. Otherwise, it was perhaps his worst pro season, as he was unable to win a title and cashed only $17,390 in official PBA earnings.

2012–13 season

Jones won the WBT International Bowling Championship in Inazawa, Japan on January 19, 2013. With WBT titles now counted as PBA Tour titles (if won by a full-fledged PBA member), Jones was credited with his 14th PBA title. Tommy also won the season-ending 7th Kingdom International Open in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 16, 2013 for his 15th PBA title. He earned over $166,000 in 2012–13, his best season earnings since 2005–06.

2014 season

Jones made match play six times, and appeared three times in the televised finals, but did not win a tournament.

2015 season

On May 16, 2015, Tommy won his 16th PBA title (his first on U.S. soil since 2008) at the PBA Bear Open in Shawnee, Oklahoma. On this day, Jones rose from the #5 seed and defeated four PBA titleists, including PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke in the final match. It would be Jones' lone title for the season, despite making the final round in a career-high eight tournaments.

2016 season

On June 5, 2016, Jones earned his 17th PBA Tour title in the Downums Waste Services PBA Xtra Frame Jonesboro Open. With the win, Tommy moved into a 20th place tie with Hall of Famer Carmen Salvino on the all-time PBA titles list. Jones earned a $10,000 bonus for accumulating the most points (89) in the seven 2016 PBA Xtra Frame events, surpassing E. J. Tackett (84 points) in the final Xtra Frame event of the season on October 30. Jones won the PBA Scorpion Championship on December 10 at the 2016 World Series of Bowling in Reno, NV for his 18th PBA Tour title. This moved him into a tie for 15th place on the all-time PBA titles list (with five other players).

2017 season

Jones made the final match of the 2017 Fire Lake PBA Tournament of Champions on February 19, 2017, but lost to top seed E. J. Tackett. As one of the top eight money leaders from the start of the 2015 season through the 2017 USBC Masters, Jones was invited to participate in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals in May, 2017. Tommy placed fourth in the event.

Additional accomplishments

Career PBA Tour titles

Major titles are in boldface.