2015 PBA Tour season

Last updated
PBA Bowling Tour: 2015 Season
League Professional Bowlers Association
Sport Ten-pin bowling
DurationJanuary 2 – December 18
PBA Tour
Season MVP Jason Belmonte
PBA Tour seasons

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.

Contents

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

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 parentheses (#).

EventAirdateCityPreliminary roundsFinal roundOil patternWinnerNotes
PBA-WBT Brunswick Ballmaster OpenN/A Helsinki, Finland Jan 2–10Jan 11 Paul Moor, England (1)WBT and PBA title event. $15,325 first prize.
DHC PBA Japan Invitational 2015Jan 17 X Tokyo Jan 14–17Live Chris Barnes, USA (18)Invitational event. ¥5 million ($43,032) first prize. [+]
PBA Players Championship Feb 22 E Wauwatosa, WI Jan 26–30Feb 15 (Indianapolis) Parker Bohn III, USA (34)Open event. $25,000 first prize.
Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles ChampionshipMar 1 E Wauwatosa, WI Jan 26–30Feb 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 1–7LiveUSBC Custom Jason Belmonte, Australia (11)Open event. PBA major. $50,000 first prize.
50th Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions Feb 15 E Indianapolis, INFeb 10–14LiveTOC CustomJason Belmonte, Australia (12)Invitational event. PBA major. $50,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT H.H. Emir CupN/A Doha, Qatar Feb 24–26Feb 27Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia [F]WBT and PBA title event. $25,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT Kingdom of Bahrain OpenN/A Bahrain Mar 3–6Mar 7Jesper Svensson, Sweden (1)WBT and PBA title event. $25,000 first prize.
12th Kuwait International OpenN/A Kuwait City Mar 10–13Mar 14Brad Angelo, USANon-title event. $25,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT Brunswick Euro ChallengeN/A Munich, Germany Mar 15–21Mar 22Josh Blanchard, USA (1)WBT and PBA title event. $12,000 first prize.
PBA League Elias CupQuarters: Mar 29 E
Quarters: Apr 5 E
Semis: Apr 12 E
Finals: Apr 19 E		 Portland, ME Mar 28–29Mar 30MultipleBass 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 ShootoutMar 31 XPortland, MEMar 30LiveJosh Blanchard, USA (2)Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Wolf OpenMay 26 C Shawnee, OK May 11, 14May 16Wolf Kyle Troup, USA (1)Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Bear OpenJun 2 CShawnee, OKMay 12, 14May 16Bear Tommy Jones, USA (16)Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Badger OpenJun 9 CShawnee, OKMay 13, 14May 16BadgerRonnie Russell, USA (3)Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Oklahoma OpenJun 16 CShawnee, OKMay 11–15May 17Top 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 CShawnee, OKMay 11–17May 17Wolf (left lane), Badger (right lane)Bill O'Neill, USANon-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 OpenJun 21 X Pensacola, FL Jun 19–20LiveBearAndres Gomez, Colombia (3)Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Southwest OpenJun 28 X Lubbock, TX Jun 26–27Live E. J. Tackett, USA (1)Open event. $15,000 first prize.
WBT Bowling World OpenN/ATokyoJul 9–11Jul 12 Osku Palermaa, Finland (5)WBT and PBA title event. $81,000 first prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed DoublesAug 2 X Houston, TX Jul 31 – Aug 1LiveBill O'Neill (7) and Shannon O'Keefe, USAOpen event. $15,000 first prize.
PBA/PBA50 Xtra Frame South Shore DoublesAug 8 X Hammond, IN Aug 6–7LiveD. J. Archer (2) and Bob Learn, Jr., USAOpen event. $20,000 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop East ClassicAug 23 X Middletown, DE Aug 21–22LiveRyan Shafer, USA (5)Open event. $15,000 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Iowa Midwest OpenOct 11 X Council Bluffs, IA Oct 9–10Live Sean Rash, USA (9)Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas OpenOct 22 X Las Vegas, NV Oct 20–21Live Ryan Ciminelli, USA (3)Open event. $10,000 first prize.
PBA Team ChallengeOct 25 XLas Vegas, NVOct 23–24LiveDead 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 2–7LiveU.S. Open CustomRyan Ciminelli, USA (4)Open event. PBA major. $50,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT Qatar OpenN/A Doha, Qatar Nov 26 – Dec 1Dec 2Cameron Weier, USA (1)WBT and PBA title event. $40,000 first prize.
PBA-WBT 9th Kingdom International OpenN/A Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaDec 3 – Dec 6Dec 7Francois Louw, South Africa WBT and PBA title event. $25,000 first prize.
Rolltech PBA World Championship Dec 17 E Reno, NV Dec 8-13LiveCustom Gary Faulkner Jr., USA (1)Open event for WSOB entrants. PBA major. $60,000 first prize.
PBA Cheetah ChampionshipDec 20 EReno, NVDec 8, 14Dec 18CheetahParker Bohn III, USA (35)Open event. $20,000 first prize.
GoBowling.com PBA Viper ChampionshipDec 27 EReno, NVDec 9, 14Dec 18ViperRyan Ciminelli, USA (5)Open event. $20,000 first prize.
PBA Chameleon ChampionshipJan 3 EReno, NVDec 10, 15Dec 18ChameleonJesper Svensson, Sweden (2)Open event. $20,000 first prize.
PBA Scorpion ChampionshipJan 10 EReno, NVDec 11, 15Dec 18ScorpionJon 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.

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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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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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