PBA Bowling Tour: 2015 season

The 56th season of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour was played in 2015. There were 27 singles title events, three doubles title events, and two team events on the 2015 schedule.

PBA Bowling Tour: 2015 Season
LeagueProfessional Bowlers Association
SportTen-pin bowling
DurationJanuary 2 – December 18
PBA Tour
Season MVPJason Belmonte

Tournament schedule and recaps

For the seventh year in a row, the PBA held multiple fall North American events in one location, at the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII (WSOB VII). Preliminary rounds and match play took place December 8 through December 14 in Reno, NV, and included four "animal" oil pattern events (Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon and Scorpion). The four pattern tournaments in WSOB VII served as initial qualifying for the PBA World Championship. The top 25% of players in total pinfall (from a field of up to 312 participants) over the 36 games of qualifying (nine games per pattern tournament) moved on to the PBA World Championship cashers round, and bowled an additional six games of qualifying on the PBA World Championship oil pattern to determine the top 24. Three additional match play rounds of eight games each determined the field for the five-player stepladder finals, which aired live in primetime on December 17 on ESPN.[1] The finals for the four animal pattern tournaments were taped on December 18, and aired on consecutive Sundays on ESPN, beginning December 20.[2]

Several international tour stops, which are part of the World Bowling Tour (WBT), were again part of the PBA schedule. As in 2014, a PBA title was awarded if any of these stops were won by a PBA member. In addition, some tournaments formerly consigned as PBA Regional tour stops qualified the winner to earn a PBA title. These are designated as "Xtra Frame" tournaments, because they are broadcast exclusively (start-to-finish) on the PBA's Xtra Frame webcast service.

Returning to the PBA schedule in 2015 was the U.S. Open major, which was not played in 2014.[3] The BPAA and USBC secured Bowlmor AMF bowling centers as the title sponsor for the 2015 event, which took place November 2–8 in Garland, Texas.[4]

Season highlights
  • Jason Belmonte, reigning 2012–13 and 2014 PBA Player of the Year, continued his stunning run of dominance in PBA majors. On February 8, he won the USBC Masters for an unprecedented third straight season. Only Mike Aulby has also won the Masters three times, but Aulby's wins were not in consecutive seasons.[5] The following week, Belmonte also won the Barbasol Tournament of Champions for the second straight season. This marked Belmonte's tenth appearance in the TV finals over the last 12 majors, and his fifth major tournament win.[6]
  • Also at the Barbasol Tournament of Champions, Sean Rash made history when he rolled the PBA's 25th televised perfect 300 game in the second match of the finals. Having also shot the PBA's 23rd televised 300 game in the 2014 PBA Wolf Open, Rash is the only player in history with two perfect games in the TV finals of a PBA tournament.[6] Chris Barnes, owner of the PBA's 22nd televised 300 game, rolled his second-ever perfect game in a PBA final at the DHC PBA Japan Invitational earlier this season, but that event was not televised in the U.S.[7]
  • The U.S. Open returned after a one-year hiatus, and was held November 2–8 in Garland, Texas. Ryan Ciminelli emerged as champion, earning his fourth PBA title and first major championship.[8]
  • Rookie Gary Faulkner Jr. was the surprise winner of the season's final major, the PBA World Championship held in December in Reno, NV. Faulkner, who rose from the #3 seed and defeated top seed E. J. Tackett in the final match, became just the second African American to win a PBA title and a PBA major, following George Branham III who won five titles between 1986 and 1996, including the 1993 Tournament of Champions.[9]
  • In an extremely close vote, Jason Belmonte was honored as the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year for the third straight season, getting 47.36 percent of the vote over Ryan Ciminelli's 43.22 percent. Belmonte won two titles (both majors), led the PBA Tour in earnings, finished in the Top Five in nine other tournaments, and edged Ciminelli in Tour average (225.40 to 225.37). This makes Belmonte the fourth PBA player to earn three consecutive POY awards, following Earl Anthony (who did it twice), Mark Roth and Walter Ray Williams, Jr.. Runner-up Ciminelli was the only PBA player with three titles on the season (one being a major). Jesper Svensson, a two-time winner in 2015, was named PBA Rookie of the Year.[10]

Tournament summary

Below is a schedule of events for the 2015 PBA Tour season. Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parenthesis (#).

EventAirdateCityPreliminary roundsFinal roundOil patternWinnerNotes
PBA-WBT Brunswick Ballmaster Open N/A Helsinki, Finland Jan 2–10 Jan 11 Paul Moor, England (1) WBT and PBA title event. $15,325 first prize.
DHC PBA Japan Invitational 2015 Jan 17 X Tokyo Jan 14–17 Live Chris Barnes, USA (18) Invitational event. ¥5 million ($43,032) first prize. [+]
PBA Players Championship Feb 22 E Wauwatosa, WI Jan 26–30 Feb 15 (Indianapolis) Parker Bohn III, USA (34) Open event. $25,000 first prize.
Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship Mar 1 E Wauwatosa, WI Jan 26–30 Feb 15 (Indianapolis) Norm Duke, USA (38) and
Wes Malott, USA (10)		 Open event. $22,000 first prize.
USBC Masters Feb 8 E Green Bay, WI Feb 1–7 Live USBC Custom Jason Belmonte, Australia (11) Open event. PBA major. $50,000 first prize.
50th Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions Feb 15 E Indianapolis, IN Feb 10–14 Live TOC Custom Jason Belmonte, Australia (12) Invitational event. PBA major. $50,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup N/A Doha, Qatar Feb 24–26 Feb 27 Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia [F] WBT and PBA title event. $25,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT Kingdom of Bahrain Open N/A Bahrain Mar 3–6 Mar 7 Jesper Svensson, Sweden (1) WBT and PBA title event. $25,000 first prize.
12th Kuwait International Open N/A Kuwait City Mar 10–13 Mar 14 Brad Angelo, USA Non-title event. $25,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT Brunswick Euro Challenge N/A Munich, Germany Mar 15–21 Mar 22 Josh Blanchard, USA (1) WBT and PBA title event. $12,000 first prize.
PBA League Elias Cup Quarters: Mar 29 E
Quarters: Apr 5 E
Semis: Apr 12 E
Finals: Apr 19 E		 Portland, ME Mar 28–29 Mar 30 Multiple Bass Pro Shops Silver Lake Atom Splitters
(Chris Barnes, Mika Koivuniemi, Dick Allen, Tom Daugherty, Craig Nidiffer; Coach: Mark Baker)		 Non-title team event. $50,000 first prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Maine Shootout Mar 31 X Portland, ME Mar 30 Live Josh Blanchard, USA (2) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Wolf Open May 26 C Shawnee, OK May 11, 14 May 16 Wolf Kyle Troup, USA (1) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Bear Open Jun 2 C Shawnee, OK May 12, 14 May 16 Bear Tommy Jones, USA (16) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Badger Open Jun 9 C Shawnee, OK May 13, 14 May 16 Badger Ronnie Russell, USA (3) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Oklahoma Open Jun 16 C Shawnee, OK May 11–15 May 17 Top seed Bill O'Neill chose Bear Bill O'Neill, USA (6) Top 18 from pattern events qualify. Top 5 after additional match play games advance to TV. $18,000 first prize.
Oklahoma's Grand Casino Resort "King of the Swing" Jun 23 C Shawnee, OK May 11–17 May 17 Wolf (left lane), Badger (right lane) Bill O'Neill, USA Non-title stepladder final; four Summer Swing title winners plus "wild card" player (most event points among non-winners) compete for an additional $10,000.
PBA Xtra Frame Pensacola South Open Jun 21 X Pensacola, FL Jun 19–20 Live Bear Andres Gomez, Colombia (3) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Southwest Open Jun 28 X Lubbock, TX Jun 26–27 Live E. J. Tackett, USA (1) Open event. $15,000 first prize.
WBT Bowling World Open N/A Tokyo Jul 9–11 Jul 12 Osku Palermaa, Finland (5) WBT and PBA title event. $81,000 first prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles Aug 2 X Houston, TX Jul 31 – Aug 1 Live Bill O'Neill (7) and Shannon O'Keefe, USA Open event. $15,000 first prize.
PBA/PBA50 Xtra Frame South Shore Doubles Aug 8 X Hammond, IN Aug 6–7 Live D. J. Archer (2) and Bob Learn, Jr., USA Open event. $20,000 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop East Classic Aug 23 X Middletown, DE Aug 21–22 Live Ryan Shafer, USA (5) Open event. $15,000 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest Open Oct 11 X Council Bluffs, IA Oct 9–10 Live Sean Rash, USA (9) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open Oct 22 X Las Vegas, NV Oct 20–21 Live Ryan Ciminelli, USA (3) Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Team Challenge Oct 25 X Las Vegas, NV Oct 23–24 Live Dead Money (Danielle McEwan, Alex Cavagnaro, Anthony Pepe, Matt McNeil, Matt O'Grady) Non-title team event. $40,000 first prize.
Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open Nov 8 C Garland, TX Nov 2–7 Live U.S. Open Custom Ryan Ciminelli, USA (4) Open event. PBA major. $50,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT Qatar Open N/A Doha, Qatar Nov 26 – Dec 1 Dec 2 Cameron Weier, USA (1) WBT and PBA title event. $40,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT 9th Kingdom International Open N/A Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Dec 3 – Dec 6 Dec 7 Francois Louw, South Africa WBT and PBA title event. $25,000 first prize.
Rolltech PBA World Championship Dec 17 E Reno, NV Dec 8-13 Live Custom Gary Faulkner Jr., USA (1) Open event for WSOB entrants. PBA major. $60,000 first prize.
PBA Cheetah Championship Dec 20 E Reno, NV Dec 8, 14 Dec 18 Cheetah Parker Bohn III, USA (35) Open event. $20,000 first prize.
GoBowling.com PBA Viper Championship Dec 27 E Reno, NV Dec 9, 14 Dec 18 Viper Ryan Ciminelli, USA (5) Open event. $20,000 first prize.
PBA Chameleon Championship Jan 3 E Reno, NV Dec 10, 15 Dec 18 Chameleon Jesper Svensson, Sweden (2) Open event. $20,000 first prize.
PBA Scorpion Championship Jan 10 E Reno, NV Dec 11, 15 Dec 18 Scorpion Jon Van Hees, USA (1) Open event. $20,000 first prize.

[+] Chris Barnes won an additional ¥5 million ($43,032) for rolling a 300 game in his semifinal match.[7]
[F] Denotes female competitor. By tournament rules, female competitors receive 8 pins handicap per game in this tournament, and thus cannot be credited with a PBA title.

References
  1. Vint, Bill (June 2, 2015). "2015 PBA World Championship to Air in Prime Time on ESPN; WSOB VII Moves to Reno in December". pba.com. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  2. Vint, Bill (June 18, 2015). "PBA Unveils Schedule, Prize Fund as GEICO PBA World Series of Bowing VII Heads to Reno". pba.com. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  3. Wiseman, Lucas (May 9, 2014). "USBC, BPAA reach agreement to bring back U.S. Open". Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  4. "Bowlmor AMF becomes title sponsor for 2015 Bowling's U.S. Opens". bowlingdigital.com. December 12, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  5. Schneider, Jerry (February 8, 2015). "Belmonte Becomes First to Win Three Consecutive USBC Masters Titles". pba.com. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  6. Vint, Bill (February 15, 2015). "Belmonte Repeats as Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions Winner; Rash Rolls Historic 300 Game". pba.com. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  7. Vint, Bill (January 18, 2015). "Bowlmor Chris Barnes Enjoys Rewarding Day with 300 Game, 18th Career Title in DHC PBA Japan Invitational". Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  8. Schneider, Jerry (November 8, 2015). "Ryan Ciminelli Wins U.S. Open for First Major Title". Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  9. Vint, Bill (December 17, 2015). "Memphis' Gary Faulkner Jr. Wins First Title in Rolltech PBA World Championship". Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  10. Schneider, Jerry (January 20, 2016). "Belmonte Becomes Fourth to Win Three Consecutive Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year Honors". pba.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
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