PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke earns top berth for PBA Bear Open finals
05/13/15
2015 PBA Tour #8
Bill O'Neill, Jason Belmonte, Tommy Jones and Brad Angelo also make finals
Â
Bowling in his 33rd year of Professional Bowlers Association competition, PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., averaged 225.3 Tuesday to earn the top qualifying berth for the stepladder finals of the PBA Bear Open at FireLake Bowling Center.
Duke, who ranks third on the all-time PBA Tour win list with 38 titles, earned the top spot with a 2,704 12-game pinfall total bowling games of 198, 280, 234, 232, 212 and 215 in Tuesday evening's final qualifying round.
L-R Duke, O’Neill, Belmo, Jones and Angelo.
"Obviously the power players got there this year which forces me to put more on the ball than I'm used to," said the 51-year-old Duke. "To be competitive with these guys it's a work in progress.
"I'm as confident as I've always been but I have to call on all the experience I have and even more to stay in the game," he added. "I'm definitely going to have to rise to the occasion if I'm going to get No. 39."
Duke is one of a handful of players who competes on both the PBA Tour and the PBA50 Tour for players 50 and over. In 2014, the two-time PBA Player of the Year earned both PBA50 Player and Rookie of the Year honors.
Qualifying second for his second consecutive stepladder final in the Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Summer Swing, five-time PBA Tour champion Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pa., earned the No. 2 berth finishing 45 pins behind Duke with a 2,659 pinfall total. O'Neill also earned the No. 2 spot for the Wolf Open on Monday.
One day after a 56th-place finish in the Wolf Open, two-time reigning PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia bounced back Tuesday to earn the No. 3 qualifying berth for the Bear Open finals finishing with a 2,651 pinfall.
Heading into the Summer Swing, the 12-time Tour winner is the front-runner for a third consecutive PBA Player of the Year title, thanks to wins in the season's first two majors, the 65th United States Bowling Congress Masters and 50th anniversary Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions.
Also qualifying for his second consecutive stepladder final was 15-time Tour winner Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., completing qualifying with a 2,642 pinfall good for the No. 4 spot. Jones qualified fifth for the Wolf Open stepladder final.
Earning the fifth and final spot for the finals with a 2,609 pinfall total was Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y., who will be trying for his third PBA Tour title.
The Bear Open is the second of five events that compose Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Summer Swing. All five events (Wolf, Bear, Badger and Oklahoma Opens plus the Grand Casino Resort King of the Swing) will be televised by CBS Sports Network on consecutive Tuesday nights beginning with the Wolf Open on May 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
The Bear Open finals will be taped Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT at the Grand Hotel Casino & Resort Event Center and will air June 2 at 9 p.m. ET.
The Summer Swing continues Wednesday with the PBA Badger Open on a 52-foot lane condition. Squad A will bowl six qualifying games at 8 a.m. and Squad B will bowl at 2 p.m. The top 18 players will bowl an additional six-game qualifying round at 7:30 p.m. to determine the Badger Open stepladder finalists.
The first six games on each of the three animal patterns will determine the 18 players who will advance to the Oklahoma Open match play rounds on Thursday. The King of the Swing field will consist of the Wolf, Bear, Badger and Oklahoma Open winners plus the highest player in points without winning one of the four events.
All preliminary rounds of the PBA Wolf, Bear and Badger Opens, plus match play rounds of the Oklahoma Open are being covered live on PBA's online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.
Jake Peters averages 235.5 to lead PBA Bear Open First Round Qualifying
Marshall Kent jumps from 9th to first place to earn top berth for PBA Wolf Open finals
PBA Tour season hits full stride with Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Summer Swing
2015 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions
Players with position, hometown/country and 12-game total; top five advance to stepladder finals Saturday, May 16, at 2:30 p.m. CT at the Grand Resort Event Center in Shawnee; places 6-18 show earnings
1, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 2,704
2, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,659
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,651
4, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,642
5, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2,609
Missed Cut:
6, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,604, $2,000
7, Patrick Girard, Canada, 2,569, $1,800
8, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,563, $1,600
9, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 2,548, $1,400
10, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 2,498, $1,300
11, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2,480, $1,200
12, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., 2,471, $1,100
13, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2,457, $1,000
14, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 2,444, $900
15, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 2,443, $800
16, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,439, $700
17, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 2,430, $600
18, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 2,415, $500
Duke, who ranks third on the all-time PBA Tour win list with 38 titles, earned the top spot with a 2,704 12-game pinfall total bowling games of 198, 280, 234, 232, 212 and 215 in Tuesday evening's final qualifying round.
L-R Duke, O’Neill, Belmo, Jones and Angelo.
"Obviously the power players got there this year which forces me to put more on the ball than I'm used to," said the 51-year-old Duke. "To be competitive with these guys it's a work in progress.
"I'm as confident as I've always been but I have to call on all the experience I have and even more to stay in the game," he added. "I'm definitely going to have to rise to the occasion if I'm going to get No. 39."
Duke is one of a handful of players who competes on both the PBA Tour and the PBA50 Tour for players 50 and over. In 2014, the two-time PBA Player of the Year earned both PBA50 Player and Rookie of the Year honors.
Qualifying second for his second consecutive stepladder final in the Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Summer Swing, five-time PBA Tour champion Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pa., earned the No. 2 berth finishing 45 pins behind Duke with a 2,659 pinfall total. O'Neill also earned the No. 2 spot for the Wolf Open on Monday.
One day after a 56th-place finish in the Wolf Open, two-time reigning PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia bounced back Tuesday to earn the No. 3 qualifying berth for the Bear Open finals finishing with a 2,651 pinfall.
Heading into the Summer Swing, the 12-time Tour winner is the front-runner for a third consecutive PBA Player of the Year title, thanks to wins in the season's first two majors, the 65th United States Bowling Congress Masters and 50th anniversary Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions.
Also qualifying for his second consecutive stepladder final was 15-time Tour winner Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., completing qualifying with a 2,642 pinfall good for the No. 4 spot. Jones qualified fifth for the Wolf Open stepladder final.
Earning the fifth and final spot for the finals with a 2,609 pinfall total was Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y., who will be trying for his third PBA Tour title.
The Bear Open is the second of five events that compose Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Summer Swing. All five events (Wolf, Bear, Badger and Oklahoma Opens plus the Grand Casino Resort King of the Swing) will be televised by CBS Sports Network on consecutive Tuesday nights beginning with the Wolf Open on May 26 at 8 p.m. ET. The Bear Open finals will be taped Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT at the Grand Hotel Casino & Resort Event Center and will air June 2 at 9 p.m. ET.
The Summer Swing continues Wednesday with the PBA Badger Open on a 52-foot lane condition. Squad A will bowl six qualifying games at 8 a.m. and Squad B will bowl at 2 p.m. The top 18 players will bowl an additional six-game qualifying round at 7:30 p.m. to determine the Badger Open stepladder finalists.
The first six games on each of the three animal patterns will determine the 18 players who will advance to the Oklahoma Open match play rounds on Thursday. The King of the Swing field will consist of the Wolf, Bear, Badger and Oklahoma Open winners plus the highest player in points without winning one of the four events.
All preliminary rounds of the PBA Wolf, Bear and Badger Opens, plus match play rounds of the Oklahoma Open are being covered live on PBA's online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.
Â
Related Articles
Jake Peters averages 235.5 to lead PBA Bear Open First Round Qualifying
Marshall Kent jumps from 9th to first place to earn top berth for PBA Wolf Open finals
PBA Tour season hits full stride with Oklahoma's Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Summer Swing
2015 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions
Â
PBA Bear Open - Final Qualifying Standings
Players with position, hometown/country and 12-game total; top five advance to stepladder finals Saturday, May 16, at 2:30 p.m. CT at the Grand Resort Event Center in Shawnee; places 6-18 show earnings
1, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 2,704
2, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,659
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,651
4, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,642
5, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2,609
Missed Cut:
6, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,604, $2,000
7, Patrick Girard, Canada, 2,569, $1,800
8, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,563, $1,600
9, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 2,548, $1,400
10, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 2,498, $1,300
11, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2,480, $1,200
12, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., 2,471, $1,100
13, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2,457, $1,000
14, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 2,444, $900
15, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 2,443, $800
16, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,439, $700
17, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 2,430, $600
18, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 2,415, $500
Â