Australian two-handed star
Jason Belmonte (pictured) not only claimed the sixth-round lead in 69th U.S Open Saturday at Brunswick Zone-Carolier, but did it by demolishing his competitors. Belmonte, who won three three of his four career PBA titles earlier this season in the PBA World Series of Bowling, put an exclamation point on his rise to the top by defeating previous leader
Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., 254-191, in the final match of Saturday's afternoon round. Belmonte, the PBA Tour's 2009-10 Rookie of the Year, is still looking for his first major title.
Colombian native Andres Gomez (pictured) will try to add a PBA Tour title to his collection of international titles in the tape-delay TV finals of the PBA's Carmen Salvino Classic as part of the PBA Tour's final "doubleheader" weekend Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. Also this weekend, the PBA Tour's competition points leaders will join the best players from the PBA's seven regional programs and the 2011 PBA Senior Tour points list for the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs presented by Hammer at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.
PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke (l.) won his 35th career PBA Tour title and Wes Malott (r.) ended a three-year title drought when they combined to defeat top qualifiers Ronnie Russell and Sean Rash, 193-167, to capture the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship at South Point Casino. The Doubles Championships, conducted in November 2011, aired Sunday on ESPN and ended a streak of five consecutive PBA World Series of Bowling titles won by international players.
Ronnie Russell (l.) trying for his first PBA Tour title, will team up with the hottest player in the PBA World Series of Bowling, Sean Rash (r.), in the finals of the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship, but they will have to beat an all-star team if they want to win the title. The finals, which were conducted in November 2011 during the PBA World Series of Bowling, will be televised Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
PBA players who have performed the best in PBA Tour, Regional and Senior Tour competition during the 2011-12 season are heading to Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis for the second Dick Weber PBA Playoffs presented by Hammer March 30-April 1 at Woodland Bowl. The fourth and final event on the PBA's inaugural Xtra Frame Tour is the penultimate event on the 2011-12 PBA Tour schedule and will be webcast from start to finish, live on the PBA's online bowling channel.
PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke (pictured) won the PBA Detroit Open presented by Track Sunday for his second win of the 2011-12 season and the 36th of his career. Duke, of Clermont, Fla., defeated reigning PBA Player of the Year and No. 1 seed, Finland native Mika Koivuniemi, 266-217, in the championship match at Thunderbowl Lanes to win the $10,000 first prize which pushed his career earnings over the $3 million mark. His 36 wins also moved him into a tie for third place on the all-time career list for titles won.
Hoping to win his first title after six seasons of PBA Tour competition, Jason Sterner (l.) of McDonough, Ga., averaged 243.77 to lead qualifying Saturday in the PBA Detroit Open presented by Track at Thunderbowl Lanes. Sterner had a 2,194 nine-game pinfall to lead the 24 players who advanced to Sunday's head-to-head match play. Finishing second after qualifying was one-time Tour titlist Dave Wodka (r.) of Henderson, Nev., with 2,183.
In PBA's first live event after the 69th U.S. Open, PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber (pictured) will be looking to make it two in a row when the PBA Xtra Frame Tour visits Thunderbowl Lanes Friday through Sunday for the Detroit Open presented by Track. Weber, who recently won a record fifth PBA U.S. Open title, will be among the field of approximately 100 players who will compete in the season's third of four Xtra Frame Tour events. Live coverage begins with the qualifying at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 10. 
Chris Barnes (l.) of Double Oak, Texas, rolled the 22nd nationally-televised 300 game in PBA history during the GEICO Shark Open finals, but he bowled it one game too soon. After his perfect effort in the semifinal round, Barnes lost in the title match to Australia's Jason Belmonte (r.), 244-213. The title was Belmonte's second in the World Series and the third of his PBA career. The tape-delay telecast of the championship round aired Sunday on ESPN.
Chris Barnes (l.) of Double Oak, Texas, and PBA World Series of Bowling star Sean Rash (r.) of Montgomery, Ill., hope to end the international domination of the World Series TV finals in the tape-delay broadcast of the GEICO Shark Open eliminator finals Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN. The GEICO Shark Open was the last of four PBA "animal pattern" championships conducted in November 2011 during the PBA World Series of Bowling at South Point Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
Pete Weber (pictured) of St. Ann, Mo., became the most successful bowler in U.S Open history Sunday, winning the most challenging major title in bowling for a record fifth time at Brunswick Zone-Carolier with a strike on his final ball in the 10th frame to nip top qualifier Mike Fagan of Dallas, 215-214. In winning the title, Weber broke a tie with his late father, PBA legend Dick Weber, and the late Don Carter, who each won the forerunner to the U.S. Open - the BPAA All Star - four times.
Mike Fagan (pictured) of Dallas emerged as the top qualifier for Sunday's finals in the 69th U.S Open at Brunswick Zone-Carolier, when he will try to become the first player in nearly four years to win back-to-back major professional bowling championships. Fagan will be joined in the championship round by Australia's Jason Belmonte, Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., and four-time U.S. Open winner Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., who advanced from 13th place to fourth during Saturday's final two rounds. The finals air live on ESPN at 3 p.m. Eastern. 
Ryan Shafer (l.) of Horseheads, N.Y., posted a conservative 4-4 match play record Friday night to take an 85-pin lead over Mike Fagan of Dallas into Saturday's final 16 games of match play in the 69th U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone Carolier. Including 30 bonus pins for each match won, the four-time champion had a 34-game total of 7,592 pins. Australian two-handed player Jason Belmonte (r.) won his first six matches to advance from 14th place to third with 7,491 pins.
Ryan Shafer (l.), a 25-year PBA Tour veteran from Horseheads, N.Y., completed the 26-game qualifying portion of the U.S. Open with a total of 5,825 pins, an average of 224.04, to lead the top 24 players into round robin match at Brunswick Zone-Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J. Shafer took a 170-pin lead over Mike Fagan of Dallas into the start of head-to-head match play competition Friday night. Missy Parkin (r.) became the first woman to reach the match play finals.
Ryan Shafer (l.) of Horseheads, N.Y., rolled a 234 final game Thursday night to retain the lead in the 69th U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone-Carolier, but it was 14-year-old Kamron Doyle (r.) of Brentwood, Tenn., who stole the show, earning a spot in Friday's cashers round and becoming the youngest player ever to cash in a Professional Bowlers Association Tour event. 
Ryan Shafer (pictured) is once again posed to make a run for the title he covets most. Shafer, bowling in his 25th year on the PBA Tour at age 45, emerged Wednesday as the second round leader in the 69th U.S. Open after averaging 225.17 through the first 12 qualifying games at Brunswick Zone-Carolier. The entire field of 394 players will bowl six more qualifying games
Thursday to cut to the top 98 players who will advance to the
cashers' round Friday morning. 
Dan MacLelland (l) has done the imaginary role-playing during practice, dreaming about the day when he'll become the first Canadian citizen to win a PBA Tour title. The 26-year-old Windsor, Ontario, native took the first step toward converting his dream into reality by taking the first round lead in the 69th U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone-Carolier on Tuesday, averaging 238.17 for six games for a six-pin lead over journeyman Brian Kretzer (r.) of Dayton, Ohio, 1,429-1,423.
Despite rolling a gutter ball on his first shot of the opening stepladder match, Scott Newell (l.) of Deland, Fla., quickly regained his composure to win three consecutive matches for the PBA Ricart Ford Open presented by Columbia 300 title Sunday at Sequoia Pro Bowl. The 28-year-old Newell won his first PBA Tour title by defeating tournament leader and one-time Tour winner Ryan Ciminelli (r.) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 247-245, in a title match that went down to the 10th frame.
In his American television debut, England’s Dom Barrett (pictured) defeated Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., 247-204, to win the PBA Scorpion Open. The finals of the PBA's third tournament of the 2011-12 season was also the third of four PBA "animal pattern" championships and has been contested November 19, 2011 on a pair of lanes specially installed in an exhibit hall at South Point Hotel and Casino in suburban Las Vegas. The tape-delay telecast of the championship round aired Sunday on ESPN.
