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Walter Ray Williams Jr. Leads After
First Round in PBA Senior Jackson Open
Senior Player of the Year points leader Wayne Webb struggles to 40th after first round
JACKSON, Mich. (Aug. 22, 2010) – Making a bid to become the first player in Professional Bowlers Association history to win Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year crowns in the same year, Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. averaged 255.7 Sunday to lead first round qualifying in the PBA Senior Jackson Open at Airport Lanes.
Williams bowled a 2,046 eight-game pinfall total with games of 279, 268, 245, 228, 248, 299, 214 and 265 to hold a 91-pin lead over last week’s Senior Pepsi Open winner Tom Baker in second with 1,955.
Going into the final event of the Senior Tour season, Williams is second in Senior Player of the Year points behind fellow Hall of Famer Wayne Webb by 12 points, but Webb struggled in the first round, finishing 40th with a 1,658 pinfall. Williams, who earned the PBA Tour Player of the Year crown at the conclusion of the season in April, can win Senior Player of the Year if he wins in Jackson and Webb finishes fourth or lower.
“Having to win and needing Wayne to finish worse than third is a tall order—it’s not something that happens every week,” said the 50-year-old Williams, the PBA Tour’s all-time wins leader with 47 titles, “but it’s a real possibility and I’m going to do everything I can and let everything else take care of itself.
“I had a good shot to the pocket for the whole block today and was able to take advantage of that,” Williams added. “I got off to a good start and was able to keep the momentum going.”
In his first year on the Senior Tour, Williams won in his Senior Tour debut at the Senior Miller High Life Classic in May.
Also with an outside shot at Senior Player of the Year is Hall of Famer Mark Williams (no relation to Walter Ray) who sat in fifth place after the first round with 1,806 pins.
The 116-player field will bowl another eight-game qualifying round on Monday after which the field will be cut to the top 32 players who will advance to match play Tuesday morning. The Round of 8 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Eastern followed by semifinal and championship matches.
Final day coverage of the Senior Jackson Open will be available on PBA.com’s Xtra Frame video service. For subscription information visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.
PBA SENIOR JACKSON OPEN
Airport Lanes, Jackson, Mich., Aug. 22
FIRST ROUND (after 8 games)
1, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 2,046.
2, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,955.
3, Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 1,910.
4, Don Sylvia, Reno, Nev., 1,823.
5, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,806.
6, Dale Csuhta, Wadsworth, Ohio, 1,797.
7, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,792.
8, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,786.
9, Steve Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 1,782.
10, Patric Donaghue, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., 1,780.
11, Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, 1,779.
12, (TIE) Patrick King, Yankton, S.D.
and Keith Sharp, Orlando, Fla., 1,775.
14, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,767.
15, Roy Buckley, New Albany, Ohio, 1,746.
16, Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1,745.
17, Gary Hiday, Indianapolis, 1,741.
18, Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,738.
19, Bill Henson, Westerville, Ohio, 1,722.
20, Kerry Painter, Henderson, Nev., 1,720.
21, Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 1,719.
22, Fred McClain, Allen Park, Mich., 1,718.
23, Robert Teeters, Lapel, Ind., 1,713.
24, Larry Popp, Marion, Ohio, 1,712.
25, Michael Lucente, Warren, Mich., 1,703.
26, Bob Chamberlain, The Villages, Fla., 1,699.
27, John Shreve Sr., Elyria, Ohio, 1,698.
28, Pete Kaczmarczyk, Warren, Mich., 1,693.
29, Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,688.
30, Doug Spicer, Canton, Mich., 1,687.
31, Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio, 1,685.
32, Dick Selgo, Archbold, Ohio, 1,680.
33, (TIE) Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla.,
Larry Graybeal, Elizabethton, Tenn.
and Dave Patchen, Oregon, Ohio, 1,677.
36, Bob Faragon, Schenectady, N.Y., 1,675.
37, Ron Garr, Ridgedale, Mo., 1,674.
38, Roger Kossert, Lithia, Fla., 1,672.
39, Ron Profitt, Brookville, Ohio, 1,666.
40, (TIE) Bennie Holman, Decatur, Ill.,
and Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,658.
42, Timothy Kauble, Marion, Ohio, 1,656.
43, (TIE) Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa, and Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla., 1,655.
45, Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,651.
46, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,646.
47, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Township, Mich., 1,644.
48, Tom Howison, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,643.
49, (TIE) Dave Schultz, Jackson, Wis.
and John Chapman, Canada, 1,639.
51, (TIE) George Lord, Lakeland, Fla.
and Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,638.
53, Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,633.
54, Ray Johnson, Battle Creek, Mich., 1,631.
55, Steve Easterday, Strasburg, Ohio, 1,630.
56, Bobby Johnson, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,617.
57, Leo Scantamburlo, Riverview, Mich., 1,616.
58, (TIE) Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D.
and Larry Walker, Garden City, Mich., 1,614.
60, Michael Truitt, Orland Park, Ill., 1,612.
61, Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 1,611.
62, Mike Mineman, Belleville, Ill., 1,606.
63, Patsy DellaPenna, Palm Harbor, Fla., 1,605.
64, (TIE) Dave Sill, Rockledge, Fla.,
Norm Ginsberg, Kissimmee, Fla.
and Ed Marzka, Orlando, Fla., 1,601.
67, Michael Chrzanowski, Shepherd, Mich., 1,598.
68, Kim Kirkpatrick, Rockford, Ill., 1,594.
69, (TIE) Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., Ken Waters, Kingsport, Tenn. and Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,593.
72, (TIE) Leonard Cianciolo, Warren, Mich.
and Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,592.
74, Mitchell Jabczenski, Novi, Mich., 1,586.
75, Douglas Weese, Carson City, Mich., 1,583.
76, Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,575.
77, Harley Trumbull, New Boston, Mich., 1,574.
78, Dave Bernhardt, Shelby Twp., Mich., 1,572.
79, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 1,571.
80, Paul Kwiecien, Lansing, Mich., 1,570.
81, Jerry Walls, Kennewick, Wash., 1,569.
82, Alan Brown, Fort Wayne, Ind., 1,565.
83, Dannie Hettinger, Circleville, Ohio, 1,562.
84, Andrew Ippolito, Forest Hills, N.Y., 1,559.
85, John Bennett, Clarkston, Mich., 1,558.
86, Gary Johnson, Romulus, Mich., 1,557.
87, (TIE) Daniel Miner, East Moline, Ill.
and Harv Pallas, Stevensville, Mich., 1,552.
89, Derek Smith, Hicksville, Ohio, 1,550.
90, Dave Osim, Roscommon, Mich, 1,546.
91, Bob Edwards, Lima, Ohio, 1,544.
92, Jim Gordin, Modesto, Calif., 1,541.
93, Richard Hunt, Valparaiso, Ind., 1,532.
94, (TIE) Donald Breihan, Columbia, S.C.
and Dave Flemming, Fairborn, Ohio, 1,531.
96, Bob Brady, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,525.
97, Phillip Moros, Lombard, Ill., 1,523.
98, Steve Fulton, Lansing, Mich., 1,518.
99, Bob Andersen, Forest City, N.C., 1,509.
100, (TIE) Darryl Traber, Waterford, Wis.
and Bill Idzior, Crown Point, Ind., 1,485.
102, Sam Perrotta, Lincoln Park, N.J., 1,483.
103, James Souder, Greeneville, Tenn., 1,476.
104, Vic Portalatin, Jackson, Mich., 1,468.
105, Richard Felten, Rockville, Md., 1,449.
106, Ray Randall, Dearborn, Mich., 1,446.
107, Edward Buco, Berlin, Md., 1,437.
108, Nick Tjotjos, Westlake, Ohio, 1,434.
109, Hubert Harrison, Middletown, Ind., 1,431.
110, Fred Baldwin, Sturgis, Mich., 1,422.
111, Dan Clausse, Reno, Nev., 1,419.
112, John Milletics, Sandusky, Mich., 1,393.
113, Gene Vincent, Decatur, Ill., 1,389.
114, Allen Meskan, Addison, Ill., 1,375.
115, Bill McCorkle, Westerville, Ohio, 1,339.
116, Dave Rossi, Morgantown, W.Va., 1,305.
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,800 of the best bowlers from 13 countries who compete in Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, Regional and Senior Tour events. Nearly one million ESPN viewers watch PBA Tour on Sundays during the tour season and thousands watch PBA activities online by using PBA’s video streaming service, Xtra Frame. PBA sponsors include Barbasol, Bayer, Brunswick, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, One A Day Men’s 50+ Multivitamin, Pepsi-