Australian two-handed star
Jason Belmonte (pictured) is the
PBA Tour average leader following the PBA Detroit Winter Swing, scoring at a 237.30 pace after 112 games bowled during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV and in Detroit. In second place with a 235.26 average is
Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas. Rounding out the top 5 among players who have bowled at least 90 games thus far are
Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., 233.57;
Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, Calif., 233.26; and
Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pa., 231.24.
In winning his second consecutive PBA Senior U.S. Open title, Venezuela's Amleto Monacelli (pictured left with the Eagle trophy) joins Tom Baker and Wayne Webb as the third two-time winner of the event. All three are PBA Hall of Famers and all three have won the PBA50 Tour major in back-to-back years. Baker won the Senior U.S. Open in 2005 and '06, Webb won in 2008 and '09 and Monacelli in 2012 and '13.
The PBA surprised PBA50 Tour competitor Joe Scarborough (r.) with a unique "900 series" award during the GEICO PBA Summer Swing presented by Lucas Oil in Milwaukee. Scarborough, who bowled the first 900 series in PBA history to start his first qualifying round in the Sun Bowl at The Villages presented by Hammer in Florida on April 21, was presented with a custom-designed, framed "900" Gemini jersey by PBA Commissioner Tom Clark (l.).
The PBA doesn't keep official records on such things, but Bob Learn Jr. (pictured) of Erie, Pa., may have bowled the "longest" 300 game in PBA history Monday during the PBA50 Miller High Life Classic at George Pappas' Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C. After throwing the first four strikes in his third qualifying game Monday, the power went out at Victory Lanes. After a 90-minute "delay of game," Learn threw the final eight strikes to complete a 300 game that took nearly two hours from start to finish.
NFL all-star wide receiver Terrell Owens (pictured) made his competitive bowling debut in the USBC Open Championships in Reno, Nev., Tuesday and Wednesday. Bowling on the Bowlers Journal International team with PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, Xtra Frame announcers Mike (Mike J. Laneside) Jakubowski and Jason (The Bowling Guy) Thomas, and former USBC employee Ed Baur, Owens posted a 475 series in his USBC Open Championships debut in team event.
Heading into the GEICO PBA Summer Swing in Milwaukee May 20-June 2, Australia's Jason Belmonte (l.) and Finnish-American Mika Koivuniemi (r.) of Hartland, Mich., top the three key PBA statistical categories – averages, earnings and competition points. PBA statistics will play a critical role in the eventual selection of the 2012-13 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year.
DJ Archer (pictured) of Friendswood, Texas – who wasn't even drafted for PBA League competition - joined the Motown Muscle roster for the qualifying rounds during the PBA Detroit Winter Swing when Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y., was forced to withdraw due to a lingering injury. When a painful battle with plantar faciitis, affecting his right foot, forced Motown's Mike Scroggins out of the lineup, Archer stepped in and helped the Muscle defeat the Dallas Strikers to advance to the Elias Cup title match. 
Wesley Low Jr., (pictured) at age 15, became the youngest bowler ever to win a PBA Regional title – breaking a 34-year-old record set by PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber in 1979 – when the two-handed competitor from Palmdale, Calif., defeated Deeronn Booker of Anaheim, Calif., 299-234, to win the PBA Non-Champion West tournament at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas on Friday, March 29. Low lost his bid for a perfect game in the title match when he left an 8 pin on his final shot.
After bowling a 300 game in his third qualifying game Wednesday, a flare-up of a painful plantar faciitis condition in his right foot forced eight-time PBA Tour titlist Mike Scroggins (pictured) of Amarillo, Texas, to withdraw from the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis. Scroggins also is a member of the PBA League's Motown Muscle team that qualified No. 2 for the Elias Cup finals which will be contested Sunday. He hopes the condition will improve enough so he can bowl in the PBA League finals.
A lingering injury has forced two-time PBA Tour champion Brad Angelo (pictured) of Lockport, N.Y., to forgo his entry into the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions, which gets underway Wednesday at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis. Mike Mineman of O'Fallon, Ill., was next in line, but declined his invitation, so the vacancy in the TOC field will be filled by four-time PBA Tour titlist Brian Himmler of Cincinnati, who won his last title in the 2006 Earl Anthony Medford Classic.
Five past winners of the PBA Tournament of Champions have exercised their options to enter the upcoming Barbasol PBA TOC expanding the field from 48 PBA Tour champions to 53. Joining the traditional field of Tour titlists will be George Branham III (1993), Bryan Goebel (1998) and PBA50 Tour competitors and PBA Hall of Famers Johnny Petraglia (left, 1971), Wayne Webb (right, 1980), and Mark Williams (1985 and '88).
Mika Koivuniemi's successful 7-10 split conversion during the final Elimination Bracket match of the USBC Masters, aired live on Xtra Frame and ultimately was aired as the "Bud Light Play of the Day" on ESPN's SportsCenter Tuesday night. The 7-10 conversion proved to be a very big shot for Koivuniemi. It helped him clinch the fifth spot in the ESPN stepladder finals by 12 pins over Mike Machuga.
PBA League owners Chris Paul (.), the all-star guard with the Los Angeles Clippers and owner of the PBA League’s L.A. X team, and comedian/actor Kevin Hart (r.), stole the honors during NBA All-Star weekend, winning MVP honors in the NBA All-Star Game and Celebrity All-Star Game, respectively. Paul became the first Clippers player to be All-Star Game's MVP, scoring 20 points and handing out 15 assists in the West's 143-138 win over the East.
A record number of PBA players will get an opportunity for some "face time" on ESPN this weekend when the PBA Tour and ESPN combine to produce five two-hour ESPN television shows at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich., to conclude the historic PBA Detroit Winter Swing. Detroit area bowling fans will have the opportunity to personally watch the debut of the PBA League on television.