Australian Jason Belmonte took another step closer in his journey to win a record-tying 10th Professional Bowlers Association major title averaging 244 after four rounds to retain his lead in the Barbasol PBA Players Championship at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.

In Wednesday’s third round, the two-hander (pictured right and above) who owns 2011 and 2017 Players Championships titles among his nine major wins, posted a 1,173 five-game pinfall total and followed up with 1,217 in the fourth round later in the day to bring his overall four-round pinfall total for 20 games to 4,884.

Belmonte posted games of 243, 236, 223, 224 and 247 in the third round and 278, 238, 279, 204 and 218 in the fourth round. The four-time PBA Player of the Year holds a 67-pin lead over four-time tour winner and last week’s Go Bowling! PBA 60th Anniversary Classic runner-up Marshall Kent (left) of Yakima, Wash, in second with 4,817.

Belmonte, a 16-time tour winner, is one major victory behind Pete Weber and Earl Anthony who lead the all-time majors list with 10 wins.

Finishing the day in third was Kristopher Prather (right) of Plainfield, Ill., who started the day in 27th but rocketed to third finishing with 4,725. He bowled games of games of 258, 198, 279, 278 and 266 in Wednesday’s fourth round to help him move into the top five.

Rounding out the top five were one-time tour winners Stuart Williams (left) and Richie Teece (below right), both of England, with 4,686 and 4,667, respectively.

PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke (below left), a 38-time Tour titlist and winner of seven majors, who was second after Tuesday’s second round dropped to 17th with a 4,511 pinfall for four rounds. The Players Championship is the only major missing from the 53-year-old’s resume.

Competition continues with two five-game qualifying rounds Thursday at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET. After Thursday’s sixth qualifying round (30 games), the field will be cut to the top five players for the live ESPN finals Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.

The qualifying rounds of the Players Championship also determine the standings for the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship presented by BowlerX.com.

After Thursday’s final qualifying round, the top 14 doubles team will advance to two Baker format qualifying rounds on Friday which will determine the top five doubles teams for the taped ESPN telecast that will follow the Players Championship finals at 5 p.m. Fans will be able to catch the doubles final live on ESPN3.

Belmonte, and doubles partner eight-time PBA Tour winner Bill O’Neill (right) of Langhorne, Pa., also retained their lead in the Doubles Championship standings with a combined 9,489 20-game pinfall total. They hold a 265-pin lead over Kent and EJ Tackett (left) of Huntington, Ind. in second with 9,224.

Rounding out the top five doubles teams were Prather and Brandon Novak (right) of Chillicothe, Ohio in third with 9,156; Duke and Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, 9,142, and Canadians Patrick Girard and Zach Wilkins with 9,033.

All qualifying rounds for the Players Championship and Doubles Championship are streamed live on PBA’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame. For subscription and schedule information click here.

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Barbasol PBA Players Championship – Fourth Round Standings

Players with position, hometown and 20-game total

1, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 4,884
2, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4,817
3, Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 4,725
4, Stuart Williams, England, 4,686
5, Richie Teece, England, 4,667
6, (tie) AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, and
Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 4,631
8, Patrick Girard, Canada, 4,617
9, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 4,606
10, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 4,605
11, Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 4,604
12, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 4,595
13, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 4,564
14, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 4,551
15, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 4,538
16, Dom Barrett, England, 4,514
17, (tie) Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, and
Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 4,511
19, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 4,491
20, Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., 4,490
21, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 4,482
22, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa., 4,475
23, DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 4,472
24, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 4,471
25, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 4,469
26, Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 4,468
27, Daniel Fransson, Sweden, 4,459
28, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 4,449
29, (tie) Thomas Larsen, Denmark, and
Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 4,442
31, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 4,440
32, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 4,432
33, (tie) Osku Palermaa, Finland, and
Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 4,431
35, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 4,429
36, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 4,425
37, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 4,421
38, Zacharay Wilkins, Canada, 4,416
39, (tie) Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, and
Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 4,415
41, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 4,411
42, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 4,407
43, Matthew Ogle, Louisville, Ky., 4,391
44, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla., 4,372
45, Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill., 4,367
46, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 4,356
47, (tie) Matt O’Grady, Rahway, N.J., and
Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, Ill., 4,345
49, Rhino Page, Orlando, 4,343
50, Michael Tang, San Francisco, 4,340
51, Ryan Lakota, Shorewood, Ill., 4,339
52, Sam Cooley, Australia, 4,338
53, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 4,328
54, Dave Wodka, Clarksville, Tenn., 4,325
55, Yannaphon Larpapharat, Thailand, 4,319
56, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 4,314
57, Brad Miller, Maryland Heights, Mo., 4,313
58, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 4,299
59, Jeff Evans, Supply, N.C., 4,287
60, Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 4,274
61, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 4,271
62, (tie) Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., and
Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 4,264
64, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 4,261
65, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 4,259
66, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 4,256
67, Kyle Cook, Centerville, Ohio, 4,254
68, Ray Teece, England, 4,252
69, Francois Louw, South Africa, 4,251
70, (tie) Kyle Bigelow, Troy, Ohio, and
Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 4,243
72, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 4,237
73, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 4,236
74, Zulmazran Zulkifli, Malaysia, 4,229
75, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 4,227
76, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 4,223
77, Chris Arcaro, Carolina Beach, N.C., 4,219
78, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 4,217
79, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 4,196
80, Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia, 4,193
81, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 4,185
82, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 4,182
83, Kyle King, Glendale, Ariz., 4,173
84, Mitch Hupe, Towanda, Kan., 4,167
85, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 4,162
86, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 4,154
87, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 4,145
88, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 4,143
89, Gabriel Garcia, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 4,141
90, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 4,137
91, Michael Schlabach, Goshen, Ind., 4,136
92, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 4,131
93, Matthew Staninger, Highland, Ind., 4,129
94, Charlie Brown Jr, Grandville, Mich., 4,121
95, Dwight Adams, Greensboro, N.C., 4,118
96, Markus Jansson, Sweden, 4,117
97, Sandra Gongora, Mexico, 4,110
98, Robert Mushtare, Carthage, N.Y., 4,100
99, Graham Fach, Canada, 4,095
100, Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 4,090
101, Justin Wyman, Fairport, N.Y., 4,068
102, Kristian Rogers, Salisbury, N.C., 4,045
103, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 4,023
104, Cristian Azcona, Puerto Rico, 4,014
105, Kevin Kullman, Lockport, Ill., 4,006
106, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 4,000
107, Napatra Buspanikonkul, Thailand, 3,989
108, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 3,988
109, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 3,973
110, Timothy Steria, Watertown, N.Y., 3,965
111, Jean Perez, Puerto Rico, 3,946
112, Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., 3,831
113, Andrew Klingler, Grand Rapids, Mich., 3,814
114, CJ Kirchner, Herrin, Ill., 3,811
115, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 3,761
116, Tristan Butler, Fort Wayne, Ind., 3,752
117, Myles Duty, Modesto, Calif., 3,661
118, Matthew Ward, Fort Mohave, Ariz., 3,353
119, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 2,127
120, Eric Cottrell, Grove City, Ohio, 2,093

300 games (3) – Marshall Kent, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Matt Staninger.

Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship – Fourth Round Standings

Players with position, hometown and 20-game total

1, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa./Jason Belmonte, Australia, 9,489
2, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind./Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 9,224
3, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio/Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 9,156
4, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla./Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 9,142
5, Patrick Girard, Canada/Zach Wilkins, Canada, 9,033
6, Jesper Svensson, Sweden/Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 8,980
7, Darren Tang, San Francisco/Michael Tang, San Francisco, 8,946
8, Dom Barrett, England/Osku Palermaa, Finland, 8,945
9, DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas/Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 8,921
10, Ray Teece, England/Richie Teece, England, 8,919
11, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas/Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 8,911
12, Francois Lavoie, Canada/Stuart Williams, England, 8,909
13, Daniel Fransson, Sweden/Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 8,874
14, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y./Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 8,863
15, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla./Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 8,854
16, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas/Sam Cooley, Australia, 8,849
17, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa./Matt O’Grady, Rahway, N.J., 8,820
18, Brad Miller, Maryland Heights, Mo./Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., 8,803
19, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill./Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 8,801
20, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio/Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 8,799
21, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa/Mitch Hupe, Towanda, Kan., 8,798
22, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y./Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill., 8,792
23, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas/Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 8,780
24, Arturo Quintero, Mexico/Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 8,768
25, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo./Yannaphon Larpapharat, Thailand, 8,761
26, Justin Wyman, Fairport, N.Y./Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, 8,672
27, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas/Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 8,659
28, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich./Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 8,653
29, Shota Kawazoe, Japan/Zulmazran Zulkifli, Malaysia, 8,640
30, Andres Gomez, Colombia/Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 8,627
31, Matt Kuba, Chicago Ridge, IL/Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., 8,619
32, Rhino Page, Orlando/Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 8,607
33, Matthew Ogle, Louisville, Ky./Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 8,587
34, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia/Matt Sanders, Indianapolis, 8,558
35, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y./Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 8,510
36, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich./Jeff Evans, Supply, N.C., 8,504
37, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan./Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 8,500
38, Markus Jansson, Sweden/Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 8,431
39, Dave Wodka, Clarksville, Tenn. /Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 8,348
40, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C./Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, 8,346
41, Kevin Kullman, Lockport, Ill./Ryan Lakota, Shorewood, Ill., 8,345
42, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y./Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia, 8,324
43, Andrew Cain, Phoenix/Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 8,291
44, Gabriel Garcia, Port St. Lucie, Fla./Matthew Staninger, Highland, Ind., 8,270
45, Chris Arcaro, Carolina Beach, N.C./Kristian Rogers, Salisbury, N.C., 8,264
46, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio/Graham Fach, Canada, 8,240
47, Christopher Sloan, Ireland/Francois Louw, South Africa, 8,239
48, Kyle King, Glendale, Ariz./Russ Oviatt, Chandler, Ariz., 8,004
49, Jean Perez, Puerto Rico/Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 7,946
50, Andrew Klingler, Grand Rapids, Mich./Charlie Brown Jr, Grandville, Mich., 7,935
51, Dwight Adams, Greensboro, N.C./Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 7,879