Hugh Miller (left) of Mercer Island, Wash. took the first steps towards claiming his second PBA Senior title Tuesday as he placed first in the Senior Tour Qualifying Round at the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour's Lake County Indiana Golden Anniversary Championship at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind. He finished the day with a 220.30 average and a 2230 10-game total over two five-game qualifying blocks.

The PBA Senior Tour made a stop in Hammond earlier this year for the PBA Senior Lake County Indiana Open, also held at Olympia Lanes. At that event, Miller placed 31st in a field of 160 bowlers.

"I used the same ball that I finished with at the Senior Tour event, and today it worked," Miller said. "The combination of using that ball plus the lower scores helped me a lot."

Miller, who turns 52 this Friday and has eight PBA Tour titles, bowled on the PBA Tour in the 1980s and '90s, winning seven PBA Tour titles before he retired briefly. He returned to the Tour in 2001 and claimed a title in 2002 in Yohohama, Japan.

"The sport bowling conditions that were introduced during the 2001-02 season, along with the new ownership (of the PBA Tour), rekindled my interest," said Miller.

Miller along with 15 other bowlers, advanced to Thursday's Round of 16 out of eighty-seven total bowlers. Kenny Parks (left), of Willowbrook, Ill., clinched the 16th and final spot to advance by five pins over Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska.

The Lake County Indiana Golden Anniversary Championship is taking place from Nov. 4-9 at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind., with the PBA Exempt bowlers and the PBA Senior bowlers competing simultaneously in separate tournaments.

Wednesday marks the Exempt Bowlers TQR. The real action starts Thursday with the Round of 64 and the Senior division's Round of 16. Players will complete two seven-game qualifying blocks with a cut to the top 32 bowlers and top 8 senior after Thursday night's competition.

Friday features the top 32 and top 8 senior competing in a single-elimination best four-out-of-seven match play format. Saturday is a day for the fans, with PBA Pro-Ams and Fan Day taking place at Olympia Lanes.

The championship round takes place Sunday, live on ESPN at 1 p.m. EST. It will mark the first time a senior championship has been televised and televised live since 2001.