PBA Bowling Tour: 2014 season

2014 is the 55th season of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and the sixth straight season in which all of the North American fall events are condensed into the PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB).[1] The 2014 season consisted of 20 individual title events plus a "PBA League" team title event. The 2014 season is the first season since 2000 to follow a calendar year schedule.

PBA Bowling Tour: 2014 Season
LeagueProfessional Bowlers Association
SportTen-pin bowling
DurationJanuary 3 – December 15
PBA Tour
Season MVPJason Belmonte

Tournament schedule and recaps

For the sixth year in a row, the PBA held the fall North American events in one location at the PBA World Series of Bowling VI (WSOB VI). Preliminary rounds and match play took place October 24 through October 31, with taping of the final televised rounds on November 2. The four standard "animal pattern" tournaments in WSOB VI served as the initial qualifying rounds for the PBA World Championship. After 28 qualifying games (7 per pattern tournament), the top 24 bowlers (in total pinfall) bowled an additional 24 games of match play (three rounds of eight games) to determine the top five players for the TV finals.[2] The World Championship returned to a split format, as in 2009-10. After the match play rounds at WSOB VI, the stepladder finals were held live on January 11, 2015.[3]

Following the WSOB, the Round1 Japan Cup invitational tournament took place in Japan, with a final televised round on November 15. Several international tour stops, which are part of the World Bowling Tour (WBT), were again part of the PBA Tour schedule. As in 2012–13, a PBA title is awarded if any of these stops are won by a PBA member.

Notably absent from the PBA schedule in 2014 is the U.S. Open. The event was not hosted in 2014, as the BPAA (the tournament's primary sponsor) was unable to find additional sponsorship.[4]

Season highlights
  • Jason Belmonte won the first two majors of the season, at the Barbasol Tournament of Champions and the USBC Masters, giving him three majors among his ten total titles. This was Jason's second consecutive victory in the USBC Masters, making him the first person to successfully defend a Masters title since Billy Welu in 1965.[5]
  • The "PBA League" team tournament was held for the second straight season. The 2014 team title went to the Silver Lake Atom Splitters, coached by former pro Mark Baker and featuring Chris Barnes, Bryon Smith, Tommy Jones, Wes Malott, and Dom Barrett as team members.
  • Sean Rash rolled the PBA's 23rd televised perfect 300 game in the opening match of the PBA Wolf Open finals, which aired June 3. Sean went on to win the tournament for his eighth PBA title.[6]
  • Ronnie Russell rolled the PBA's 24th televised 300 game in the challenge round of the WSOB Chameleon Championship on November 2, 2014 (broadcast December 28, 2014). Russell would lose the title match, however, to D. J. Archer.[7]

Tournament summary

Below is a schedule of events for the 2014 PBA Tour season. Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parenthesis (x).

EventAirdateCityPreliminary roundsFinal roundOil patternWinnerNotes
Brunswick Ballmaster Open N/A Helsinki, Finland Jan 3–11 Jan 12 Mika Koivuniemi, Finland (13) WBT and PBA title event. €12,000 first prize.
Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions Jan 26 E Allen Park, MI Jan 16–24 Live TOC custom Jason Belmonte, Australia (8) Invitational event. PBA major. $40,000 first prize.
USBC Masters Feb 23 E North Brunswick, NJ Feb 17–22 Live Custom Jason Belmonte, Australia (9) Open event. PBA major. $50,000 first prize.
Emir Cup N/A Doha, Qatar Feb 22–26 Feb 27 Chris Barnes, USA (17) WBT open event. $25,000 first prize.
Bahrain International Open N/A Bahrain Mar 1–6 Mar 7 Shaker Al Hassan, United Arab Emirates WBT open event. $25,000 first prize.
Kuwait International Open N/A Kuwait City Mar 8–13 Mar 14 Thomas Larsen, Denmark (2) WBT open event. $25,000 first prize.
Brunswick Euro Challenge N/A Munich, Germany Mar 15–22 Mar 23 Marshall Kent, USA (amateur) WBT open event. €11,111 first prize.
PBA League Elias Cup Final Apr 13 E Allen Park, MI Jan 16–24 Jan 25 Multiple Silver Lake Atom Splitters (Chris Barnes,
Bryon Smith, Tommy Jones, Wes Malott,
Dom Barrett; Owner: Chris Hardwick;
Coach: Mark Baker)		 Non-title team event.
PBA Wolf Open Jun 3 C Shawnee, OK May 19, 22 May 24 Wolf Sean Rash, USA (8) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Bear Open Jun 10 C Shawnee, OK May 20, 22 May 24 Bear Ronnie Russell, USA (2) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Badger Open Jun 17 C Shawnee, OK May 21–22 May 24 Badger Bill O'Neill, USA (5) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Oklahoma Open Jun 24 C Shawnee, OK May 19–22 May 25 Top seed (E.J. Tackett)
chose Bear		 Jason Belmonte, Australia (10) Top 18 from pattern events qualify. Top 5 after 18 additional match play games advance to TV. $18,000 first prize.
PBA "King of the Swing" Jul 1 C Shawnee, OK May 19–22, 24–25 May 25 Top seed (Bill O'Neill)
chose Badger		 Bill O'Neill Non-title stepladder final; four Summer Swing title winners plus "wild card" player (top pinfall among non-winners) compete for an additional $10,000.
WBT Thailand Open N/A Bangkok, Thailand Aug 18–23 Aug 25 Osku Palermaa, Finland (4) WBT open event. $32,258 first prize.
WSOB VI Cheetah Championship Dec 14 E Las Vegas, NV Oct 25, 30 Nov 2 Cheetah Anthony Pepe, USA (1) Open event. $20,000 first prize.
WSOB VI Viper Championship Dec 21 E Las Vegas, NV Oct 26, 30 Nov 2 Viper Mika Koivuniemi, Finland (14) Open event. $20,000 first prize.
WSOB VI Chameleon Championship Dec 28 E Las Vegas, NV Oct 27, 31 Nov 2 Chameleon D. J. Archer, USA (1) Open event. $20,000 first prize.
WSOB VI Scorpion Championship Jan 4, 2015 E Las Vegas, NV Oct 28, 31 Nov 2 Scorpion Michael Haugen Jr., USA (4) Open event. $20,000 first prize.
PBA World Championship Jan 11, 2015 E Las Vegas, NV Oct 25–31 Live Top seed
chooses		 Mike Fagan, USA (5) Open event for WSOB entrants. $50,000 first prize.
Round1 Japan Cup TBD Tokyo Nov 10–14 Nov 15 Park Kyung Shin, South Korea Invitational for JPBA and PBA members. $51,700 first prize.
WBT Qatar Open TBD Doha, Qatar Nov 21–26 Nov 27 Dom Barrett, England (4) WBT open event. $40,000 first prize.
8th Kingdom International Open TBD Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Nov 28–Dec 2 Dec 3 Marshall Kent, USA (1) WBT open event. $10,000 first prize.
  • C: broadcast on CBS Sports Network
  • E: broadcast on ESPN
  • +Sean Rash won an additional $10,000 for scoring 300 in the opening match of the TV finals of the PBA Wolf Open.
  • ++Ronnie Russell won an additional $10,000 for scoring 300 in the opening match of the TV finals of the WSOB VI Chameleon Open.

References
  1. Vint, Bill (February 9, 2012). "2012 PBA World Series of Bowling Returns to South Point in Las Vegas Nov. 2–11". PBA.
  2. "PBA World Championship Tournament Notes" (PDF). pba.com. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  3. Vint, Bill (September 17, 2014). "2014 29 PBA Tour Titles Will Be Decided During Expanded 2015 Season". pba.com.
  4. Brouillette, William (October 22, 2013). "2014 U.S. Open abandoned". Times Union.
  5. Schneider, Jerry (February 23, 2014). "Jason Belmonte Becomes First Player in Nearly 50 Years to Successfully Defend USBC Masters Title". PBA. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  6. Vint, Bill (June 3, 2014). "Sean Rash Rolls 300 on His Way to Eighth Career Title in PBA Wolf Open to Kick Off PBA Summer Swing". PBA.com. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  7. Vint, Bill (December 28, 2014). "D.J. Archer Wins First PBA Title in Emotional Chameleon Championship; Russell Rolls 24th TV 300". PBA.com. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
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