The ageless Walter Ray Williams Jr. (pictured left) demonstrated Monday that he still has some fuel in his 53-year-old tank, taking the eight-game qualifying lead in the Professional Bowlers Association's Chameleon Championship at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas.

In the third of four "animal pattern" championships that make up the qualifying portion of the PBA World Championship, the all-time PBA Tour titles leader with 47 career victories averaged 240.63 behind remarkably consistent games of 234, 245, 236, 247, 242, 258, 213 and 250 for a total of 1,925 pins to lead the 16 players who advanced to Monday night's six-game semifinal round.

Two pins behind Williams was Denmark's Mik Stampe (above right) who used high games of 298 and 277 for 1,923 total (240.38 average). Australia's Jason Belmonte was one pin behind Stampe in third place with 1,922 including high games of 290, 276 and 275.

One-time PBA champions Scott Norton (left) of Costa Mesa, Calif., and Stuart Williams (right) of England round out the top 5 with 1,906 and 1,890, respectively.

After the semifinal round, the top four players based on 14 games will advance to Sunday's ESPN television stepladder finals. Williams hopes to be among those four.

"After yesterday I was thinking I shouldn't be bowling here," the PBA Hall of Famer said. "But today I was able to do what I like to do – throw it nice and firm, get a good reaction, and I actually threw the ball pretty well. And I got some pin carry."

After a dismal 2011-12 PBA Tour season when he failed to qualify for a television final for the first time in a PBA-record 26 years, Williams refused to give in to the years of physical abuse his body has endured in bowling more than 22,000 games in PBA Tour competition.

"I'd like to think I'm still competitive, but it's a matter of doing the right things on the lanes," he said. "Yesterday (in the Viper Championship) I didn't; today I did. I still have to shoot a lot tomorrow (in the Scorpion Championship) to sneak into top 24 (the match play field for PBA World Championship is based on 32 games – eight games in each of four "animal pattern" events), but it's possible. I figured I needed to be at least 300 over today (he was 325 pins above a 200 average Monday) and tomorrow, but we'll see what happens."

Williams said he's well aware of his advancing years, but right now, coming from the East Coast to the Pacific time zone has been a bigger pain. "I've been waking up at 3 or 4 a.m. every night. I'm still on Eastern time," he said, "so I think I'll go take a nap.

"I've got a few aches and pains," he added. "(Sunday) night my shoulder ached, but I woke up this morning and felt fine. It's not uncommon. I've dealt with that for a long time, not just the past few years, and it doesn't seem to affect my play. Actually, most of my body parts are still pretty decent."

With 47 titles, more than $4 million in career earnings and more PBA records than any player in PBA history, what's left for him to accomplish?

"Win another title," he said matter-of-factly. "Not a Senior Tour title. A regular one. That would be nice, especially after last year. That was definitely a negative on my radar."

After three rounds of PBA World Championship qualifying, Sean Rash (left) of Montgomery, Ill., maintained his lead, averaging at a 241.12 for a 24-game total of 5,787 pins, 60 pins ahead of Tommy Jones (right) of Simpsonville, S.C. Chris Loschetter of Avon, Ohio, was third with 5,699.

With 24 of 36 games in the books, seven of the 66 international players in the field are in the top 24, who will advance to the match play portion: Dan MacLelland, Canada (4th, 5,674); Jason Belmonte, Australia (5th, 5,669); Stuart Williams, England (T10th, 5,596); Osku Palermaa, Finland (12th, 5,567); Dominic Barrett, England (14th, 5,521); Johan Hellden, Sweden (20th, 5,499); and Mik Stampe, Denmark (22nd, 5,475).

Complete GEICO WSOB IV coverage is available on the "live scoring" feature on pba.com, or by watching the action live on Xtra Frame, PBA's online bowling channel.

GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling competition continues Tuesday with the fourth and final "animal pattern" event, the Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship. Qualifying squads will begin at 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., followed by the Scorpion semifinal round at 8 p.m.

 

Related Articles

Brad Angelo wins No. 1 berth in PBA Viper Championship Finals
Mike Wolfe earns top seed for Cheetah Championship stepladder finals
2012-13 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

 

PBA Chameleon Championship - Qualifying Round

Players with position, hometown and 8-game total. The top 16 advance to the semifinal round. Places 17 to 36 show earnings.

1, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,925
2, Mik Stampe, Denmark, 1,923
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,922
4, Scott Norton, Costa Mesa, Calif., 1,906
5, Stuart Williams, England, 1,890
6, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,888
7, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 1,887
8, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,869
9, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,852
10, Dan MacLelland, Canada, 1,850
11, Fawaz Abdulla, Bahrain, 1,840
12, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,838
13, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Chatsworth, Calif., 1,835
14, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,833
15, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,820
16, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 1,818

Missed Cut:
17, Bryan Viator, Friendswood, Texas, 1,814, $1,000
18, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1,813, $970
19, (tie) Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,809, and Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1,809, $930
21, D.J. Archer, Port Arthur, Texas, 1,808, $900
22, Jim Pratt, Glendale, Ariz., 1,807, $890
23, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 1,804, $880
24, Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 1,795, $870
25, Craig Nidiffer, Trenton, Mich., 1,790, $860
26, Mike Fagan, Dallas, 1,787, $850
27, John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 1,783, $840
28, John Furey, East Windsor, N.J., 1,780, $830
29, Johan Hellden, Sweden, 1,778, $820
30, (tie) Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., and Josh Blanchard, Gilbert, Ariz., 1,777, $805
32, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., 1,776, $790
33, Thomas Biniek Jr., Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1,774, $780
34, (tie) Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, and Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,773, $765
36, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,769, $750
37, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 1,768
38, (tie) Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., and Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,766
40, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 1,764
41, Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 1,761
42, Erik Gulbrandson, Superior, Wis., 1,760
43, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,759
44, (tie) Craig LeMond, Jasper, Ind., and Jeff Frankos, Daly City, Calif., 1,756
46, Scott Halvarson, Lakewood, Wash., 1,754
47, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,752
48, Chad Pojas, Wahiawa, Hawaii, 1,749
49, Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., 1,748
50, Patrick Girard, Canada, 1,746
51, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,740
52, (tie) Andrew Cain, Phoenix, and Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,737
54, (tie) Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, and Brett Cooper, Newburyport, Mass., 1,736
56, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 1,734
57, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 1,732
58, Matt Ramshaw, Longview, Wash., 1,730
59, Dom Barrett, England, 1,729
60, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,728
61, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 1,727
62, (tie) Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., and Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 1,725
64, Eric Forkel, Henderson, Nev., 1,722
65, Hugh Miller, Mercer Island, Wash., 1,709
66, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,708
67, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1,707
68, Kim Bolleby, Sweden, 1,705
69, (tie) Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas; Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, and Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,703
72, (tie) Yousif Falah, Bahrain; Daniel Falconi, Mexico, and Ben Davis, Ashland, Ky., 1,701
75, Gregory Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., 1,700
76, PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif., 1,697
77, (tie) Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, and Jeff Roche, Dearborn, Mich., 1,695
79, Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 1,694
80, Ahmed Saad Alhadyan, Saudi Arabia, 1,693
81, (tie) Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., and Ernest Lukacs Jr., Manville, N.J., 1,692
83, (tie) Andrew Frawley, Australia, and Brad Miller, St. Charles, Mo., 1,689
85, Mike DeVaney, Hemet, Calif., 1,688
86, Jin Han Kim, Korea, 1,685
87, Jake Peters, Decatur, Ill., 1,684
88, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,682
89, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,680
90, (tie) Yeo Jin Yoon, Korea, and Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 1,679
92, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 1,678
93, Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 1,677
94, Mattias Olsson, Sweden, 1,675
95, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 1,672
96, (tie) Justin Stevens, Aiea, Hawaii, and Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 1,671
98, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 1,668
99, Jacob Heger, Houston, 1,666
100, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,665
101, Patrick Bohm, Sweden, 1,664
102, Rohn Morton, Vancouver, Wash., 1,663
103, Kevin Morillo, Venezuela, 1,662
104, Craig Auerbach, Sunrise, Fla., 1,660
105, Missy Parkin, Lake Forest, Calif., 1,658
106, Hernan Ramirez, Venezuela, 1,656
107, Darren Andretta, New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1,655
108, (tie) Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz.; Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., and Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,654
111, Philip Medley, Washington, Mich., 1,649
112, Mohamed Sultan, Bahrain, 1,648
113, (tie) Evan Nash, Kennewick, Wash., and Myles Duty, Modesto, Calif., 1,646
115, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,645
116, William Guszczo, Orland Park, Ill., 1,644
117, Jon VanHees, Charlestown, R.I., 1,642
118, (tie) Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga.; Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., and Chris Cundiff, Lake Station, Ind., 1,641
121, Erik Andersin, Sweden, 1,639
122, Helen Johnsson, Sweden, 1,637
123, (tie) Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C., and Kelvin Wiggins, Rocky Mt., N.C., 1,636
125, Chad Vendeville, Arlington, Texas, 1,633
126, (tie) Nam Yi Jo, Korea, and Jason Stadtler, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1,632
128, Kevin Henderson, Albany, Ore., 1,631
129, (tie) David Beres, Waukesha, Wis., and Allen Blansette, Napa, Calif., 1,630
131, (tie) Adam Monks, Conway, S.C.; Peter Hellstrom, Sweden, and Nathan Urrutia, Banning, Calif., 1,629
134, Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, 1,628
135, Jason Miller, Portland, Ore., 1,626
136, (tie) Thomas Ault Jr., Portland, Ore.; Jimmy Mortensen, Denmark, and Mike Williams II, Montgomery, Ala, 1,623
139, Carsten Hansen, Denmark, 1,622
140, Kevin Gallagher, Torrance, Calif., 1,618
141, (tie) Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., and Jeff Evans, Supply, N.C., 1,617
143, (tie) Mathias Arup, Sweden, and Mohammed Al Saud, Saudi Arabia, 1,615
145, Kyle Bigelow, Troy, Ohio, 1,611
146, Lee Vanderhoef, Greenville, S.C., 1,610
147, Shawn Lee, Centennial, Colo., 1,608
148, (tie) Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, and Frederik Ohrgaard, Denmark, 1,603
150, Michael Smith, Centenniel, Colo., 1,599
151, Lee Rucker, Fort Myers, Fla., 1,598
152, Mike Bailey, Allen, Texas, 1,596
153, Dale Renken, St. Jacob, Ill., 1,595
154, Paul Nilsen Sr., Murrieta, Calif., 1,591
155, (tie) Magnus Johnson Jr., Sweden, and Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,590
157, Justin Bychkowski, Fairfield, Conn., 1,589
158, (tie) Branden Lee, Chicago, and Eduardo Yzcaray Jr., Venezuela, 1,587
160, (tie) Chris DosSantos, Fairhaven, Mass., and Roberto Silva, Mexico, 1,584
162, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 1,582
163, Humberto Vazquez, Mexico, 1,581
164, (tie) Kris Koeltzow, Wheat Ridge, Colo.; Giorgio Clinaz Jr., Venezuela, and Gustavo Salinas, Mexico, 1,575
167, (tie) Ji Hyun Cha, Korea; Kasey Normandin, Canada; Perttu Jussila, Finland, and Hyun Suk Kim, Korea, 1,574
171, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,572
172, Julio Cesar Blancas, Mexico, 1,569
173, Travis Anderson, Washington, Ill., 1,568
174, Paul Koehler, Stuart, Fla., 1,566
175, Chris Hans, Rocky Mount, N.C., 1,564
176, Greg Knolton, Bartlett, Tenn., 1,562
177, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 1,561
178, (tie) Hyun Bum Kim, Korea, and Tommy Martin, Olive Branch, Miss., 1,558
180, Robert Piroozshad, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1,555
181, Alejandro Reyna, Costa Rica, 1,552
182, John Perry, Nuevo, Calif., 1,550
183, (tie) Kim Ojala, Sweden; Matt Taylor, Knightdale, N.C., and Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 1,549
186, Dave Gillson, Phoenix, 1,548
187, (tie) Kevin Brophy, Oakhurst, N.J., and Robert McBride, Plano, Texas, 1,547
189, (tie) Isaac Amkie, Mexico, and Dustin Ochoa, Cibilo, Texas, 1,542
191, Carlos Cottone, Venezuela, 1,540
192, Hameed Taqi, Bahrain, 1,535
193, Ted Sidehamer Jr., Newport News, Va., 1,533
194, Chris Groom, Lancaster, Calif., 1,529
195, Mikael Kanold, Sweden, 1,523
196, James Hobson, Converse, Texas, 1,517
197, Hafthor Hardarson, Iceland, 1,515
198, Patrick King, Yankton, S.D., 1,512
199, Meen Woo Kim, Korea, 1,508
200, Mohamed Al Jahrami, Bahrain, 1,507
201, Matt Meyer, Alexandria, Minn., 1,500
202, Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,499
203, John Cicero, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,498
204, Mike Armstrong Jr., Battle Ground, Wash., 1,497
205, Sean Daniels, Aloha, Ore., 1,492
206, Frank Guccione, Castle Rock, Colo., 1,489
207, (tie) Josh Lewis, Asheville, N.C., and Travis Celmer, Wernersville, Pa., 1,487
209, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 1,485
210, Kirk Sauro, Dearborn Heights, Mich., 1,480
211, Manuel Mrosek, Germany, 1,478
212, Michael Menard, Canada, 1,474
213, Wayne Stellick, Aurora, Colo., 1,466
214, Glen Nakagawa, Highland Village, Texas, 1,465
215, Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 1,463
216, Kyle Leiffer, Weed, Calif., 1,458
217, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 1,457
218, Richard Rezendes, Cumberland, R.I., 1,453
219, Wes Newman, Panama City, Fla, 1,450
220, Hakim AlSaud, Saudi Arabia, 1,449
221, Kyle Martinez, Broken Arrow, Okla., 1,448
222, Aaron Ramsden, Pleasant Valley, Mo., 1,442
223, Shawn St. Andre, Garden Grove, Calif., 1,438
224, MahdI Assad, Bahrain, 1,430
225, Diego Lopez, Colombia, 1,429
226, Rob Gotterbarn Jr., Garden City South, N.Y., 1,426
227, Chris Ashworth, Gallatin, Tenn., 1,422
228, Josh Willis, Orleans, Ind., 1,415
229, Tim Arnold, Las Vegas, 1,414
230, Troy Behanna, Pasadena, Texas, 1,412
231, J.T. Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 1,408
232, Steve Ford, Seaside, Ore., 1,389
233, Jamar Lee, Livermore, Calif., 1,349
234, Adam James, Redmond, Wash., 1,326
235, Masood Saberi, Bahrain, 1,323
236, Doug Scheidig, Royersford, Pa., 1,317
237, Kenneth Bland Jr., Germany, 1,310
238, Gradie Merritt-Foster, Park Forest, Ill., 1,296
239, Paolo Joquico, Philippines, 1,280

300 Games: Dan MacLelland

 

PBA World Championship Qualifying - Top 50 after 24/32 games

The top 24 after 32 games will advance to PBA World Championship match play.

1, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 5,787
2, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 5,727
3, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 5,699
4, Dan MacLelland, Canada, 5,674
5, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 5,669
6, Scott Norton, Costa Mesa, Calif., 5,634
7, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 5,623
8, Craig Nidiffer, Trenton, Mich., 5,614
9, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 5,611
10 (tie), Mike Fagan, Dallas, and Stuart Williams, England, 5,596
12, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 5,567
13, Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 5,540
14, Dom Barrett, England, 5,521
15, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 5,520
16, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 5,517
17, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 5,511
18, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 5,506
19, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 5,504
20, Johan Hellden, Sweden, 5,499
21, Jeff Frankos, Daly City, Calif., 5,497
22, Mik Stampe, Denmark, 5,475
23, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 5,459
24, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 5,451
25 (tie), Craig LeMond, Jasper, Ind., and Josh Blanchard, Gilbert, Ariz., 5,445
27, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 5,443
28, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 5,425
29 (tie), D.J. Archer, Port Arthur, Texas, and Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 5,412
31, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 5,411
32, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 5,398
33, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Chatsworth, Calif., 5,397
34, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 5,396
35, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 5,389
36, Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, 5,385
37, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 5,384
38, Hugh Miller, Mercer Island, Wash., 5,381
39, PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif., 5,362
40 (tie), Patrick Girard, Canada; Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, and Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 5,352
43, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 5,347
44, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 5,334
45, Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 5,329
46, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 5,328
47, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 5,325
48, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 5,323
49, Gregory Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., 5,320
50, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 5,313