DECATUR, Ill. -- A pair of PBA Hall of Famers and Senior Player of the Year contenders named Williams held the top two positions after first round qualifying in the Senior Pepsi Open Sunday at Spare Time Lanes.
Mark Williams, who won the Senior U.S. Open earlier this season, had a 1,831 eight-game pinfall (228.8 average) with games of 185, 228, 220, 230, 215, 217, 278 and 258 to hold a 25-pin lead over fellow Hall of Famer and Senior Tour rookie Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., in second with 1,806.
Williams Jr., the PBA Tour’s all-time win leader with 47 titles, earned a record seventh PBA Player of the Year crown at the conclusion of the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season in April. He also won a Senior Tour title this season.
“I started the round playing outside and straight down the lane but it only took me about four frames to change that,” said Mark Williams, who owns three Senior Tour titles and seven PBA Tour titles including two Tournament of Champions crowns. “I had to move inside between the third and fourth arrow to hit the break point where I could get to the pocket. That turned out to be an advantage for me later in the block because there weren’t many guys who were playing that far inside.”
Rounding out the top five places after the first round are Patric Donaghue, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., 1,765; Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo, 1,753, and Tom Baker, King, N.C. and Bob Brady, Santa Monica, Calif., tied with 1,734.
Williams and Williams Jr. are still in the Senior Player of the Year hunt with only the Senior Jackson (Mich.) Open remaining after the Senior Pepsi Open. Leading Senior Player of the Year points is another Hall of Famer—Wayne Webb of Columbus, Ohio—who finished Sunday’s first round in 14th with 1,670.
The 109-player field returns Monday for another eight-game qualifying round to determine the top 32 players who advance to match play on Tuesday. Tuesday’s Round of 8 will begin at 6 p.m. followed by the semifinal and championship matches. Final day coverage of the Senior Pepsi Open will be available on PBA.com’s Xtra Frame video service.
PBA SENIOR PEPSI OPEN
Spare Time Lanes, Decatur, Ill., Aug. 15
ROUND ONE (after 8 games)
1, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,831.
2, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,806.
3, Patric Donaghue, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., 1,765.
4, Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,753.
5, (TIE) Tom Baker, King, N.C. and
Bob Brady, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,734.
7, Patrick King, Yankton, S.D., 1,721.
8, Michael Tryniski, Fulton, N.Y., 1,710.
9, Dale Csuhta, Wadsworth, Ohio, 1,699.
10, (TIE) Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa and
Bob Faragon, Schenectady, N.Y., 1,686.
12, Ron Profitt, Brookville, Ohio, 1,674.
13, John Forst, Salt Lake City, 1,671.
14, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,670.
15, Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla., 1,668.
16, Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,658.
17, Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, 1,655.
18, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Township, Mich., 1,647.
19, Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,636.
20, (TIE) Larry Popp, Marion, Ohio and
John Chapman, Canada, 1,626.
22, Dannie Hettinger, Circleville, Ohio, 1,624.
23, Kerry Painter, Henderson, Nev., 1,613.
24, (TIE) Steve Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y. and
Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,607.
26, Bob Knipple, Long Beach, Calif., 1,606.
27, Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,605.
28, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,604.
29, Charlie Tomey, Spartanburg, S.C., 1,603.
30, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,601.
31, Keith Sharp, Orlando, Fla., 1,598.
32, George Lord, Lakeland, Fla., 1,593.
33, Steve Bergan, O'Fallon, Ill., 1,587.
34, Michael Truitt, Orland Park, Ill., 1,586.
35, (TIE) Dave Sill, Rockledge, Fla.,
Brendan Bierch, Grafton, Mass. and
Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1,585.
38, Randy Rau, Belleville, Ill., 1,583.
39, (TIE) Gary Morgan, Marietta, Ga. and
Warren Blankenship, Ardmore, Okla., 1,582.
41, Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 1,580.
42, (TIE) Roy Buckley, New Albany, Ohio
and Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,579.
44, Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 1,572.
45, Gene Vincent, Decatur, Ill., 1,570.
46, Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,568.
47, (TIE) James Souder, Greeneville, Tenn.
and Daniel Miner, East Moline, Ill., 1,564.
49, Harv Pallas, Stevensville, Mich., 1,563.
50, (TIE) Randy Peterson, Carrington, N.D.
and Chuck Schuette, Bettendorf, Iowa, 1,560.
52, Billy Block, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 1,558.
53, John Deloney, Troy, Ill., 1,556.
54, David Axon, Bellevue, Neb., 1,554.
55, Mike Mineman, Belleville, Ill., 1,550.
56, Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,549.
57, (TIE) Peter Knopp, Germany
and Bob Chamberlain, The Villages, Fla., 1,546.
59, (TIE) Bennie Holman, Decatur, Ill.
Chris Fedden, Albany, N.Y. and
Ray Johnson, Battle Creek, Mich., 1,543.
62, Dave Patchen, Oregon, Ohio, 1,540.
63, Gary Hiday, Indianapolis, 1,539.
64, Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,537.
65, (TIE) Dave Flemming, Fairborn, Ohio
and Ed Marzka, Orlando, Fla., 1,528.
67, Richard Hunt, Valparaiso, Ind., 1,525.
68, Tom Howison, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,520.
69, Jim Gordin, Modesto, Calif., 1,516.
70, Bob Andersen, Forest City, N.C., 1,513.
71, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,512.
72, Bobby Johnson, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,510.
73, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,509.
74, (TIE) Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio,
Daniel Nicklin, Aviston, Ill. and
Timothy Kauble, Marion, Ohio, 1,508.
77, Ron Garr, Ridgedale, Mo., 1,501.
78, Kim Kirkpatrick, Rockford, Ill., 1,500.
79, Jimmy Johnson, Bellevue, Neb., 1,496.
80, Larry Graybeal, Elizabethton, Tenn., 1,495.
81, (TIE) Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla.
and Mark Zamora, Bellevue, Neb., 1,492.
83, Shannon Starnes, Fort Worth, Texas, 1,485.
84, John Shreve Sr., Elyria, Ohio, 1,477.
85, Darryl Traber, Waterford, Wis., 1,475.
86, Ken Waters, Kingsport, Tenn., 1,467.
87, Paul Gerard, Cincinnati, 1,465.
88, Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,463.
89, Barry Witmer, St. Charles, Mo., 1,462.
90, Andrew Smith, Colonie, N.Y., 1,461.
91, Bill Spigner, Vernon Hills, Ill., 1,451.
92, (TIE) Donald Breihan, Columbia, S.C.
and Bill Idzior, Crown Point, Ind., 1,450.
94, Don Sylvia, Reno, Nev., 1,447.
95, Robert Teeters, Lapel, Ind., 1,443.
96, Douglas Weese, Carson City, Mich., 1,442.
97, Gary Reh, Nesbit, Miss., 1,438.
98, Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., 1,434.
99, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 1,433.
100, Dan Clausse, Reno, Nev., 1,427.
101, Mike Schmid, St. Paul, Minn., 1,426.
102, Norm Ginsberg, Kissimmee, Fla., 1,406.
103, Peter Brainard, Tampa, Fla., 1,387.
104, Rick Hood, Stafford, Va., 1,383.
105, Dan Kistner, Gresham, Ore., 1,371.
106, Hubert Harrison, Middletown, Ind., 1,369.
107, Patsy DellaPenna, Palm Harbor, Fla., 1,319.
108, Fred Baldwin, Sturgis, Mich., 1,274.
109, Allen Meskan, Addison, Ill., 1,267.