Mike DeVaney (pictured left) of San Diego would like to make his second career Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour title a big one.

DeVaney, who won his only PBA Tour title six years ago in Tacoma, Wash., finished the second round of qualifying in the Professional Bowlers Association H&R Block Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes Thursday with a 287 game for a 3,909 total and a 29-pin lead over first-round leader Ryan Shafer (r.) of Horseheads, N.Y.

Holding the 16-game lead wasn't a big deal for Devaney.

"You can't pay attention to the scoreboard when you're bowling these guys," he said. "I'm confident. I'm very happy to be bowling well, especially after the way I've bowled the first part of the season. I've been dealing with a couple of physical issues, but I think I have them under control.

"I feel good about where I am, but the position right now is irrelevant to where you want to be in the end."

Shafer, a four-time PBA titlist who has advanced to the championship round in 11 major tournaments without winning a title, also was avoiding looking too far into the future.

"It's always nice to start well," Shafer said. "In practice before the tournament, I figured it was going to be high scoring. Normally that's not my thing, but I just wanted to keep up with the transition in lane conditions. If you miss a change, you're liable to shoot 180 and that's not what you want to do. Tonight, I hit one pair of lanes where I didn't read the transition. I made one bad shot and shot 160. Basically that's it.

"But I'm not thinking about a title. Maybe 20 years ago I'd have done that, but I'm too old to think like that now," he grinned. "Maybe I'll keep my eye on 24th place just to see what the cut number is, but that's about all at this stage of the game."

Speaking of the 24th and final spot in match play, that's the target Norm Duke (pictured left) of Clermont, Fla., has his sights set on heading into Thursday morning's final eight qualifying games. Duke, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive PBA major title, was in 32nd place after 16 games with a 3,599 pinfall total, 48 pins shy of the match play cut number.

"I need to figure out how to make the subtle mistakes and still strike," Duke said. "You have to be able to do that when the scores are as high as they are here. I haven't found that magic yet, but I will."

After Thursday's final qualifying round, the field of 60 PBA champions will be cut to the top 24 who will bowl three eight-match match play rounds Thursday evening, Friday afternoon and Friday evening. The top four after 48 games will advance to Sunday's stepladder finals which will air at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern, 9:30 a.m. Pacific) on ESPN.

First prize in the tournament is $50,000 plus a two-year Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exemption.

1, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 3,909
2, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,880
3, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,875
4, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 3,803
5, Michael Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 3,798
6, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,797
7, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 3,778
8, Rhino Page, Topeka, Kan, 3,756
9, Brian Voss, Kennesaw, Ga., 3,749
10, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 3,733
11, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 3,730
12, Rick Lawrence, Waxahachie, Texas, 3,719
13, Dave Husted, Milwaukie, Ore., 3,715
14, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,706
15, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 3,694
16, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 3,692
17, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 3,688
18, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 3,686
19, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,679
20, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 3,678
21, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,661
22, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 3,652
23, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 3,648
24, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 3,647
24, Tony Reyes, San Bruno, Calif., 3,647
26, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 3,645
27, David Traber, Hebron, Ill., 3,632
28, Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., 3,620
29, Dave Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 3,612
30, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 3,606
31, Del Ballard Jr., N. Richland Hills, Texas, 3,603
32, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,599
33, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,580
34, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 3,559
35, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 3,549
36, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 3,516
37, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,505
38, Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, 3,493
39, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,492
40, Larry Laub, Lincoln, Calif., 3,486
41, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 3,478
42, John Nolen, Waterford, Mich., 3,469
43, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 3,442
44, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 3,438
45, Mark Roth, Fulton, N.Y., 3,426
46, Roy Buckley, Westerville, Ohio, 3,421
47, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 3,417
48, Mike Aulby, Indianapolis, 3,403
49, Ernie Schlegel, Vancouver, Wash., 3,366
50, Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 3,359
51, Nelson Burton Jr., Stuart, Fla., 3,345
52, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 3,336
53, Mike Mineman, Collinsville, Ill., 3,334
54, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 3,331
55, Steve Cook, Granite Bay, Calif., 3,283
56, Jason Hurd, Titusville, Fla., 3,277
57, Teata Semiz, North Brunswick, N.J., 3,203
58, Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 3,120
59, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 3,061
60, Don McCune, Las Vegas, 3,053

Duke sits in 34th place in bid for fourth straight major title after first eight games

Ryan Shafer (pictured left) of Horseheads, N.Y., averaged 255 for eight games to take the first round lead in the Professional Bowlers Association H&R Block Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes Thursday.

Shafer, a four-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour champion, held a 115-pin lead over Dave Husted of Milwaukie, Ore.

Norm Duke (right) of Clermont, Fla., who is seeking a fourth consecutive PBA major title, was in 34th place after the opening round with a 1,773 pinfall total. He was 63 pins out of the 24th spot needed to advance to match play.

Shafer, who has advanced to the championship round in 11 major tournaments without winning a title, wasn't about to get ahead of himself.

"It's always nice to start well," he said. "I was bowling on the same pair with Dave Husted and he pushed me, which was good. In practice before the tournament, I figured it was going to be high scoring. Normally that's not my thing, but I just wanted to keep up with the transition in lane conditions. If you miss a change, you're liable to shoot 180 and that's not what you want to do.

"But I'm not thinking about a title. Maybe 20 years ago I'd have done that, but I'm too old to think like that now," he grinned. "Maybe I'll keep my eye on 24th place just to see what the cut number is, but that's about all at this stage of the game."

The full field will bowl one more eight-game qualifying round Thursday morning before the field will be cut to the top 24 qualifiers who will bowl three eight-match match play rounds Thursday evening, Friday afternoon and Friday evening. The top four after 48 games will advance to Sunday's stepladder finals which will air at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern, 9:30 a.m. Pacific) on ESPN.

First prize in the tournament is $50,000 plus a three-year Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exemption.

1, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 2,045
2, Dave Husted, Milwaukie, Ore., 1,930
3, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 1,922
4, Michael Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 1,919
5, Del Ballard Jr., N. Richland Hills, Texas, 1,917
6, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,910
7, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,909
8, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 1,904
9, Brian Voss, Kennesaw, Ga., 1,897
10, Rhino Page, Topeka, Kan, 1,885
11, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,883
11, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,883
13, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,881
14, David Traber, Hebron, Ill., 1,880
15, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,876
16, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 1,866
17, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 1,855
18, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,854
19, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 1,852
20, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,839
21, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 1,837
21, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,837
23, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,836
23, Tony Reyes, San Bruno, Calif., 1,836
25, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 1,834
26, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 1,828
27, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,827
28, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,825
29, Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, 1,820
30, Dave Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 1,804
31, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,784
32, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,783
33, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,782
34, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,773
35, Mike Mineman, Collinsville, Ill., 1,754
36, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 1,753
37, Larry Laub, Lincoln, Calif., 1,752
38, Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., 1,750
39, Mike Aulby, Indianapolis, 1,749
39, Rick Lawrence, Waxahachie, Texas, 1,749
41, Mark Roth, Fulton, N.Y., 1,748
42, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,747
43, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 1,745
43, Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 1,745
45, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 1,744
46, John Nolen, Waterford, Mich., 1,736
47, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 1,733
48, Ernie Schlegel, Vancouver, Wash., 1,728
49, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,705
50, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,699
51, Nelson Burton Jr., Stuart, Fla., 1,694
52, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,688
53, Roy Buckley, Westerville, Ohio, 1,687
54, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,684
55, Teata Semiz, North Brunswick, N.J., 1,632
56, Steve Cook, Granite Bay, Calif., 1,623
57, Don McCune, Las Vegas, 1,613
58, Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,544
59, Jason Hurd, Titusville, Fla., 1,511
60, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 1,455