LAS VEGAS, Nev. (June 4, 2009) – Five-time Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour titlist Harry Sullins, trying to win his first Senior Tour title, moved into the lead after first round match play Thursday in the 2009 PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Suncoast at the Suncoast Bowling Center.
After bowling 35 games the past four days, which included nine games in the final qualifying round and eight games of round-robin match play Thursday, Sullins led with a 7,931 pinfall and a 6-2 match play record which awards 30 bonus pins for a match win and 15 for a tie.
“I was starting to feel the grind of this tournament but I’m starting to get in a zone,” said the 51-year-old Sullins, who makes his home in Chesterfield Township, Mich., “I’ve been nursing a sore arm and with all the games we bowled today it’s kind of taking a pounding. But I’ll be more than happy to work through the pain as long as I’m near the top.”
Sullins leads defending Senior U.S. Open champion Wayne Webb of Sacramento, Calif., in second by 159 pins. Webb, a PBA Hall of Famer and 20-time national PBA Tour titlist, has a 7,772 pinfall and 6-2 match play record.
”I was very fortunate today because I didn’t bowl well and I couldn’t grip the ball properly,” said Webb. “For me each pair of lanes was incredibly different and having to grip the ball very hard, I just wasn’t comfortable out there so I’m pretty happy to be where I am.”
If Webb can win he will become the second player to win back-to-back Senior U.S. Opens. Tom Baker accomplished the feat in 2005 and 2006.
PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss, also looking for his first Senior Tour title, is in third with a 7,723 pinfall but had a tough go of it in Thursday’s match play with 3-4-1 record.
Dale Traber of Cedarburg, Wis., who won his first Senior Tour title last week in Brentwood, Calif., is fourth with a 7,669 pinfall and 4-4 match play record.
All 24 players will return Friday morning for the second of three straight eight-game round-robin match play blocks with the final block schedule for noon. At the conclusion of the final block, the top four bowlers will advance to the stepladder finals slated to begin at 3:30 Pacific.
The Senior U.S. Open winner takes home a $20,000 first prize and a berth into the 2010 Tournament of Champions.
2009 PBA SENIOR U.S. OPEN PRESENTED BY SUNCOAST
Suncoast Bowling Center, Las Vegas, Nev., June 4
FIRST ROUND MATCH PLAY RESULTS
(Match play record and total pinfall for 35 games including bonus pins)
1, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Township, Mich., 6-2, 7,931
2, Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., 6-2, 7,772
3, Brian Voss, Alpharetta, Ga., 3-4-1, 7,723
4, Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 4-4, 7,669
5, Jim Murtishaw, Menifee, Calif., 5-3, 7,644
6, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 5-2-1, 7,641
7, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 5-3, 7,612
8, Mike Terrell, Newport News, Va., 6-2, 7,556
9, Jimmy Johnson, Bellevue, Neb., 3-3-2, 7,550
10, Dennis Psaropoulos, Lake Worth, Fla., 3-5, 7,528
11, Roger Kossert, Lithia, Fla., 5-3, 7,508
12, Bill Nichols, Roseville, Calif., 5-3, 7,468
13, Hugh Miller, Seattle, 5-3, 7,449
14, Mitch Jabczenski, Novi, Mich., 4-4, 7,440
15, Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 3-5, 7,437
16, Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., 5-3, 7,434
17, Brian Brazeau, Ocala, Fla., 4-4, 7,413
18, Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 3-5, 7,410
19, Curtis Aemisegger, Wauconda, Ill., 4-4, 7,408
20, Bill Spigner, Vernon Hills, Ill., 2-6, 7,363
21, Mike Mineman, Belleville, Ill., 2-6, 7,362
22, Steve Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 2-6, 7,335
23, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 2-6, 7,334
24, Kerry Painter, Henderson, Nev., 2-6, 7,195