2007 PBA Senior Tour season-ending awards announced

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) has announced its season-ending awards for the 2007 PBA Senior Tour season, voted on by PBA membership and national media. Tom Baker was named the PBA Senior Player of the Year while Sam Zurich was named PBA Senior Rookie of the Year.

Baker (left) was named PBA Senior Player of the Year for a record third consecutive season. He won three titles, including his second consecutive USBC Senior Masters, and brought his total to eight career PBA Senior Tour titles in his three seasons on the Tour.

The only PBA Senior Tour player who is exempt on the Denny's PBA Tour, Baker has had the most dominating three-year run in PBA Senior Tour history. He was named both the PBA Senior Player and Rookie of the Year in 2005, becoming the first bowler ever to win both in the same season. In 2006, Baker tied a record with four titles – which came in just nine events – and won both Majors.

This summer, Baker's march to a third Player of the Year award was much more difficult as a strong rookie class joined the Tour, and PBA Hall of Famer David Ozio (right) bowled full-time for the first time.

Baker and Ozio battled back and forth all season, with Ozio winning one title and leading the PBA Senior Point Rankings. Baker had success when it mattered most, however, winning three of the last six events after going winless in the first seven.

The streak started with a win in the 2007 PBA Senior Northern California Classic, which he followed with his second consecutive USBC Senior Masters title. The win gave him a record four PBA Senior Tour Major titles and made him just the second bowler ever to successfully defend a Senior Masters title.

The race between Baker and Ozio was still up in the air heading into the final event of the season, the inaugural PBA Senior Dick Weber Invitational. Fittingly, the two PBA Hall of Famers met in the title match, with Baker earning the victory, 256-213.

"Last year I won four of the nine tournaments so that was just a runaway, but this year was much more difficult. I started off slow and Ozio was in the forefront until the last couple weeks, but I pulled it out at the end," Baker (King, N.C.) said. "It was fitting that it came down to the two of us in that last match. If he'd won that match then it would have been pretty close. It could have gone either way."

Ozio (Beaumont, Texas) finished second to Baker on the ballot. He won the season-opening 2007 PBA Senior Manassas Open and made a Tour-best eight championship round appearances. He also led the Tour in average (226.03) and finished second to Baker in earnings ($53,150 to $45,695).

Of all his accomplishments over the past three years, Baker said his four Major wins mean the most.

"I think the thing that sticks out most is the Major wins," Baker said. "When it comes to Majors, there's more prestige behind winning. That's your goal as a bowler, to win Majors. Winning back-to-back Masters is definitely one of the things I'm most proud of as well. Winning one Masters is hard to do, but winning two is especially hard because of the format."

Zurich (left), meanwhile, captured one title, the 2007 PBA Senior Northern Illinois Classic, which came in his second career PBA Senior Tour event. He led rookies in every statistical category, finishing fourth on Tour in points, third in earnings ($24,995) and sixth in average (219.30). He cashed in 11 of 12 events, making match play 10 times, which ranked tied for fourth on Tour.

The two-time Denny's PBA Tour titlist also finished third in the Player of the Year voting behind Baker and Ozio.

"To say I am honored is an understatement. The names of the payers who have won this in the past are some of the greatest players in the history of the game," Zurich (Grant, Fla.) said. "It's a wonderful honor and I'm just truly excited. I had a lot of people come up and say I was a shoe-in but I've seen it a million times where you think something is in the bag and it turns out different. When the Commissioner gave me the call to tell me the news, it was the highlight of my second career."

The 2007 PBA Senior Rookie of the Year race was one of the most competitive in recent history. In addition to Zurich, PBA Hall of Famer Steve Cook made his debut along with seven-time Denny's PBA Tour titlist Hugh Miller and two-time titlist Sam Maccarone, who captured his first career PBA Senior Tour title this summer.

Cook looked like he might run away with the award early in the season, finishing in the top four in two of the first three events, but knee injuries limited him to just four events. He still finished second in the voting, followed by Maccarone and Tom Carter.