EJ Tackett retains PBA Guaranteed Rate World Championship lead
Tampa, Fla.—Thirteen-time PBA Tour champion Bill O’Neill averaged 238 to lead all qualifiers in the PBA Chameleon Championship, earning the No. 1 seed for next week’s best-of-five match play. EJ Tackett, who led yesterday’s PBA Cheetah Championship, sits in first place in the PBA Guaranteed Rate World Championship entering the final day of qualifying.
O’Neill, a two-time major champion, led second seed Tom Daugherty by 73 pins through 10 games of Chameleon Championship qualifying and will face Zach Weidman in the opening round of match play. O’Neill also moved into second place in the World Championship, trailing Tackett by 78 pins.
Tackett, AJ Johnson and Marshall Kent are the only players to have made match play in both the Cheetah Championship and Chameleon Championship.
Jason Belmonte, who won the PBA Chameleon Championship each of the past two seasons, missed the cut, averaging 198 to finish 70th. Belmonte sits 56th in PBA World Championship qualifying as he attempts to become the first player ever to win the event on four consecutive occasions.
The PBA Scorpion Championship begins tomorrow at noon ET on FloBowling. Scores will also count as the final 10 games of qualifying for the PBA Guaranteed Rate World Championship and Roth/Holman Doubles Championship.
After 30 games of qualifying—10 each on the Cheetah, Chameleon and Scorpion oil patterns—the top 30 players advance to the PBA World Championship cashers rounds on Wednesday and the top 16 teams advance to Roth/Holman Doubles match play on Friday. To subscribe, visit FloBowling.com.
PBA Chameleon Championship Match Play Qualifiers
AMF University Lanes – Tampa, Fla.
Bill O’Neill +383
Tom Daugherty +310
Cristian Azcona +286
EJ Tackett +276
Jakob Butturff +271
AJ Johnson +266
Sean Lavery-Spahr +261
Tommy Jones +260
Kyle Troup +232
Shawn Maldonado +217
Brandon Novak +209
Matt Russo +195
Ronnie Russell +184
Jason Sterner +170
Marshall Kent +165
Zach Weidman +163
Best-of-five Chameleon Championship match play begins Tuesday, Mar. 16 at noon ET on FloBowling. The Chameleon Championship finals air live Mar. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
Full PBA Chameleon Championship standings: www.pba.com/node/120351
PBA Guaranteed Rate World Championship Top 10 Through 20 Games
AMF University Lanes – Tampa, Fla.
EJ Tackett +710
Bill O’Neill +632
Tom Daugherty +578
AJ Johnson +565
Marshall Kent +525
Tommy Jones +494
Kyle Troup +446
Chris Via +425
Dino Castillo +421
Sean Rash +412
World Championship cashers round begins Wednesday at noon ET on FloBowling. The stepladder finals air live on FOX Broadcast Channel Saturday, Mar. 13 at 2 p.m. ET.
Full PBA Guaranteed Rate World Championship standings: www.pba.com/node/118416
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.
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