PBA Players Championship

The PBA Players Championship is one of five major tournaments on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. Unlike the U.S. Open and USBC Masters, which allow qualifying amateurs to participate, the PBA Players Championship is open to PBA members only.

Tournament history

The tournament began as the PBA Touring Players Championship in 1983 and ran every PBA Tour season through 2000. There were no Players Championship events under any name from 2001 to 2010. After the tournament returned to major status in the 2016 season, the PBA voted to retroactively award major titles to the winners of the three previous Players Championship events that decade (2011, 2013, 2015), stating the tournament "is a members-only event, and includes all of the elements of a major."[1]

The current tournament includes a maximum starting field of 92 PBA players. The top PBA members in earnings from the previous season have entry priority over the general membership, and can fill up to 82 spots. The remaining 10 spots in the starting field are filled from a ten-game pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ). The tournament format has changed over the years. The current format includes 42 games of qualifying: three rounds of six games each to determine the top 24 for match play, followed by three match play rounds of eight games each. All pins from the initial 18 games carry over into the match play round, with the match play rounds adding 30 bonus pins per victory to the total pinfall in the round. The field is then cut to the top five for the televised stepladder finals.[2]

There is no set oil pattern. The 2018 Players Championship used the 44-foot Carmen Salvino oil pattern,[3] while the 2019 event used the 45-foot Dragon pattern.[4] The 2020 event featured the 38-foot Wayne Webb oil pattern, named after the PBA Hall of Famer whose bowling center in Columbus, Ohio has hosted this tournament since 2016.[5]

PBA Players Championship winners

2020 Event

The 2020 PBA Players Championship was held February 11–15 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl in Columbus, Ohio, with a pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) on February 9. The tournament had 92 total entries and a $250,600 prize fund, with a $75,000 top prize.[6]

A five-player stepladder format was used for the live televised finals on February 15. Bill O'Neill won from the #3 seed position, defeating #1 seed E. J. Tackett in the final match. This marked O'Neill's second major tournament win and 12th PBA title overall.[7]

  Match #1     Match #2     Match #3     Championship Match
                                     
    1 E. J. Tackett 232
      2 Jason Belmonte 185     3 Bill O'Neill 233
      3 Bill O'Neill 215     3 Bill O'Neill 236  
  4 Marshall Kent 184     4 Kristopher Prather 194  
  5 Kristopher Prather 187  

Final Standings:
1. Bill O'Neill (Langhorne, Pennsylvania) – $75,000
2. E. J. Tackett (Bluffton, Indiana) – $38,000
3. Jason Belmonte (Orange, New South Wales, Australia) – $19,000
4. Kristopher Prather (Plainfield, Illinois) – $11,000
5. Marshall Kent (Yakima, Washington) – $10,000

Past Champions

Listing of all champions dating back to the inaugural 1983 Touring Players Championship.

  • 2014: Not held
  • 2012: Not held
  • Not held 2001–2010

References
  1. Vint, Bill (15 February 2016). "Barbasol PBA Players Championship Returns to Major Title Status; Belmonte, Norton, Bohn Earn Retroactive Majors". PBA.com. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  2. Schneider, Jerry (14 February 2019). "Belmonte Recovers From Slow Start in First Match Play Round to Regain Lead in PBA Players Championship". PBA.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  3. "PBA Unveils Revamped Library of 16 Lane Oiling Patterns for 2018 PBA Tour". BowlingDigital.com. September 28, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  4. "2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour Schedule". PBA.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  5. Vint, Bill (August 29, 2016). "PBA, Barbasol Sign Two-Year Agreement to Keep Barbasol PBA Players Championship in Columbus". pba.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  6. "PBA Players Championship". PBA.com. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  7. Schneider, Jerry (February 15, 2020). "Bill O'Neill Wins PBA Players Championship After Clutch Performance in 10th Frame of Title Match". PBA.com. Retrieved February 16, 2020.

All Time Touring Players Championship Winners

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