Butturff recaptures lead heading into final day of match play at U.S. Open

31 October, 2017

PBA National Tour

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Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona, went 7-1 in the opening round of match play to build a 264-pin lead over the field Monday at the 2017 U.S. Open.

The 23-year-old left-hander (pictured above) averaged more than 240 in his seven wins at Flamingo Bowl to finish with a 9,130 total, including bonus pins, for 40 games. Butturff also led after Saturday’s second round, and he started match play in second place.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Norm Duke (left) of Clermont, Florida, is second with 8,866, and 2013 champion Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, is third with 8,861. Rhino Page (right) of Orlando, Florida, and 2016 runner-up Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington, round out the top five with 8,799 and 8,621, respectively.

Butturff, a two-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion, is feeling confident heading into the final two rounds of match play but knows he can’t get ahead of himself if he wants to maintain his spot at the top of the standings.

“I tried to keep the same steady mindset,” said Butturff, a Team USA member. “When my mental game is strong, I’m usually in good shape. My confidence is high right now, but I know I still need to go out there and make the best possible shots I can every single frame.”

Two additional rounds of match play will take place Tuesday starting at 10 a.m. Eastern, concluding with a position round. The five finalists advancing to the stepladder finals will be determined by total pinfall, including bonus pins, for 56 games.

The stepladder finals will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The champion will earn the $30,000 top prize and coveted green jacket.

Joe Paluszek of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, made the biggest jump in the first round after starting match play in 23rd place. Paluszek rolled games of 287, 257 and 276 for an 820 series to start his block and finished with a 8,616 total, which places him sixth overall.

The top 36 players from the 144-player field started competition Monday with an eight-game cashers’ round to determine the 24 players advancing to match play.

Duke led the field heading into match play with a 32-game total of 7,042, and Finland’s Osku Palermaa (right) earned the final spot with a 6,643 total, a 207.59 average.

Defending champion Francois Lavoie (left) of Canada finished in 33rd with a 6,541 total.

The U.S. Open is the fourth of five major championships on the 2017 PBA Tour schedule and is conducted jointly by the USBC and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America.

Each round of the 2017 U.S. Open leading up to the stepladder finals will be broadcast live on Xtra Frame, the exclusive online bowling channel for the PBA. For more information on the U.S. Open, click here.

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2017 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

2017 U.S. Open – Match Play Round 1

Players with position, hometown and 40-game total, including bonus pins (30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie); (a) – amateur.

1, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 7-1-0, 9,130. 2, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 5-3-0, 8,866. 3, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 6-2-0, 8,861. 4, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 6-2-0, 8,799. 5, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 4-4-0, 8,621. 6, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 4-4-0, 8,616.

7, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 4-4-0, 8,610. 8, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 4-4-0, 8,601. 9, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 4-3-1, 8,588. 10, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 6-2-0, 8,580. 11, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 3-5-0, 8,544. 12, Graham Fach, Canada, 4-4-0, 8,540.

13, John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 3-5-0, 8,524. 14, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 2-6-0, 8,514. 15, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 5-3-0, 8,460. 16, Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., 5-3-0, 8,455. 17, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 4-4-0, 8,441. 18, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla., 2-6-0, 8,433.

19, Dominic Barrett, United Kingdom, 4-4-0, 8,421. 20, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2-5-1, 8,406. 21, Richard Teece, England, 4-4-0, 8,394. 22, Stuart Williams, Phoenix, 3-5-0, 8,369. 23, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 3-5-0, 8,351. 24, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1-7-0, 8,248.

2017 U.S. Open – Round 4 Qualifying

Players with position, hometown and 32-game total; (a) – amateur.

1, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 7,042. 2, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 7,024. 3, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 6,906. 4, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 6,901. 5, John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 6,853. 6, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 6,841.

7, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 6,829. 8, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla., 6,825. 9, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 6,817. 10(tie), Jason Belmonte, Australia, and Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 6,807. 12, Graham Fach, Canada, 6,767.

13, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 6,747. 14(tie), Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, and Dominic Barrett, United Kingdom, 6,741. 16, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 6,714. 17, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 6,704. 18, Richard Teece, England, 6,701.

19, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 6,696. 20, Stuart Williams, Phoenix, 6,678. 21, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 6,662. 22, Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., 6,659. 23, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 6,649. 24, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 6,643.

Missed Cut:
25, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 6,638, $1,825. 26, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 6,632, $1,775. 27, Kenneth Ryan (a), Farmingdale, N.J., 6,618, $1,725. 28, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 6,598, $1,675. 29, Dan MacLelland (a), Canada, 6,596, $1,625. 30, Matt O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 6,585, $1,575.

31, JR Raymond, Saginaw, Mich., 6,563, $1,525. 32, Michael Tang, San Francisco, 6,550, $1,465. 33, Francois Lavoie, Wichita, Kan., 6,541, $1,430. 34, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 6,540, $1,420. 35, Brian LeClair, Delmar, N.Y., 6,464, $1,410. 36, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 6,462, $1,400.

Herbert Bickel