2x George Young PBA High Average Award (2022, 2023)
PBA Triple Crown winner
Eddie Dean Tackett Jr. (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional ten-pin bowler. A member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2012, Tackett has won 21 PBA Tour titles (13th most all-time), including four major championships, and is one of nine professional bowlers that have completed the PBA Triple Crown (earned by winning the PBA World Championship, PBA Tournament of Champions and U.S. Open majors). He was named PBA Player of the Year for the 2016 and 2023 seasons,[1] and was runner-up for the award in 2017 and 2018. Tackett is right-handed and uses a cranker-style delivery. He has been called a "unicorn" in the sport, because of his ability to use a one-handed, thumb-in delivery to achieve RPM rates comparable to most two-handed bowlers.[2]
Tackett is a pro staff member for MOTIV bowling balls, Turbo Grips, and Genesis kinesiology tape.[3]
Amateur career
Tackett was a member of Junior Team USA in 2011 and 2013, and made Team USA in 2018. At the 2018 WBT World Men's Championships in Hong Kong (November 24–December 5), Tackett won two gold medals: Trios (with teammates Kyle Troup and Andrew Anderson) and All-Events.[4]
In the 2020 Weber Cup, Tackett was named MVP as Team USA defeated Team Europe, 23–18. After the European bowlers closed the gap to four points following an initial nine-point American lead, Tackett won his final two singles matches over Swede Jesper Svensson, including the clinching match.[5] Overall in the event, Tackett participated in 13 of 41 matches, going 3–2 in singles, 5–1 in doubles, and 1–1 in team.[6]
PBA career
Tackett made four championship round appearances over the 2012–13 and 2014 seasons, but did not win a title. He was named the PBA Rookie of the Year for the 2012–13 season. His first PBA Tour title came on June 28, 2015, at the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Southwest Open.[7] Later in the 2015 season, Tackett qualified as the top seed for the PBA World Championship, but lost in the final match to Gary Faulkner Jr.[8]
2016: PBA Player of the Year
Tackett had a highly successful 2016 season. He won his second career title on April 24 at the PBA Xtra Frame Storm Open.[9]
He captured his third title (and first on U.S. television) on September 10 at the PBA Fall Swing Bear Open, also winning an additional $10,000 a day later in the non-title King of the Fall Swing event.[10]
Tackett's fourth PBA title came in the PBA Team Challenge in Las Vegas, NV on November 1. (This was the first PBA team event to award individual titles to the winning players.)[11]
Tackett then won his first PBA major and fifth title overall at the PBA World Championship, on December 11 in Reno, NV.[12]
The four titles in 2016 helped E.J. earn PBA Player of the Year honors for the season. He is the third-youngest player (24) to be named Player of the Year, behind Billy Hardwick (1963) and Andrew Anderson (2018).[1][13] Tackett led the Tour in wins (4) and earnings ($168,290), and was third in Tour average (224.49).[1]
Tackett's high rev rate allows the ball to hook sufficiently, even when lofted over the left gutter.
2017
Tackett's run of victories continued into 2017, as he won the season's opening event on January 14 at the DHC PBA Japan Invitational. This was his sixth PBA Tour title.[14]
Tackett continued his 2017 success with a win in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals on May 20. This invitational tournament featured the top eight players in PBA earnings from the start of the 2015 PBA Tour season through the 2017 USBC Masters. As the #2 seed, Tackett survived the round-robin and group stepladder matches, eventually defeating #1 seed Jason Belmonte in the three-game final. This was his third victory of 2017 and eighth title overall.[16]
Although he did not have a win in any of the seven Storm PBA Xtra Frame events in 2017, Tackett finished with the most points over the duration of the series, earning a $20,000 bonus and the Storm Cup.[17]
On November 19, Tackett won his ninth PBA title in the PBA Scorpion Championship, part of the World Series of Bowling in Reno, NV.[18]
Tackett duplicated his four titles (one major) from the previous season while making a career-high nine championship round appearances, amassing 2017 earnings of over $230,000.[19]
Tackett won his 11th PBA title on July 29, 2018, teaming with female professional Liz Johnson to win the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles championship in Houston, Texas.[22]
Tackett won his 12th PBA title and third of the 2018 season at the FloBowling PBA Bear Open, held October 17–18 in Owasso, Oklahoma.[23]
Tackett was announced as a finalist for the 2018 PBA Player of the Year award, but the award was won by Andrew Anderson.[13]
2019
On January 6, 2019, Tackett won the World Bowling Tour Men's Finals, a non-title event in which the finalists are based on performance in global events throughout the previous season.[24]
On July 21, 2019, Tackett won the Barbasol PBA Tour Finals for the second time in three seasons, earning his 13th PBA Tour title.[25]
On August 1, 2021, Tackett and partner Danielle McEwan won the PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles tournament, leading the event wire-to-wire (from opening round of qualifying through the finals).[27] The win earned E. J. his 14th PBA Tour title.
2022
After a historic performance in qualifiers, Tackett earned the #1 seed in the 2022 US Open. However, a disastrous performance in the title match led to him losing 232–165 against Anthony Simonsen. That would only delay Tackett's 2022 title chase, as he and his partner Marshall Kent won the PBA WSOB XIII Roth-Holman Doubles Championship. The win earned E. J. his 15th PBA Tour title.[28]
Tackett's 2022 season was enough to get him the #3 seed in the 2022 PBA Playoffs, where he would face a struggling Jesper Svensson. However, after splitting the first two games, Tackett would lose in the roll-off 38-24 after a heart wrenching 2-4-6-10 leave in the 10th frame.
On July 31, Tackett won his 16th PBA Tour title in the Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles tournament, with partner Diandra Asbaty. This was Tackett's third title in the event, and he has won with three different partners (Liz Johnson in 2018 and Danielle McEwan in 2021).[29]
Tackett led the 2022 PBA Tour with a 225.27 average,[30] was third in points and seventh in earnings with $160,675.[31]
2023
For the second straight season, Tackett earned the #1 seed at the US Open. In the championship finals on February 5, 2023, he defeated Kyle Troup, 221–208. With this win, he became the ninth player in PBA history to capture the Triple Crown, thanks to his prior wins in the World Championship and Tournament of Champions in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
On 17 February, Tackett won the PBA Shawnee Classic. After qualifying as the #1 seed, he defeated Dom Barrett 231–226 in the championship match to claim his 18th career title.
On March 9, Tackett won the PBA Dave Small's Jackson (MI) Classic, defeating Anthony Simonsen in the final match with a convincing 277–199 victory. This gave Tackett three wins in the first five events of the 2023 PBA Tour season.[32] Continuing his superb 2023 season, Tackett led the Tournament of Champions qualifying wire-to-wire to claim the top seed, only to lose the March 19 title match to Jason Belmonte.[33]
On April 17, Tackett won the PBA Cheetah Championship at World Series of Bowling XIV in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Having qualified as the #2 seed, he defeated Joseph Grondin in the semifinal match and B.J. Moore in the championship match.[34] With this victory, Tackett became the seventeenth player in PBA history to win at least 20 titles, and it marked his third season winning four titles. He also became the second-youngest player to reach the 20 title plateau, missing the mark set by Pete Weber by just 14 days. The next night (April 18), Tackett was the #2 seed for the PBA Scorpion Championship finals. He defeated Jesper Svensson in the semifinal match to move on to his sixth title match appearance of the season, but he then lost to top seed Jakob Butturff in the finals.[35]
On April 23, Tackett won his 21st PBA Tour title and 4th major at the 2023 PBA World Championship. As the #1 seed for the finals, he defeated Jason Belmonte in the championship match 254–247 to claim the win. This was Tackett's second PBA World Championship title, and it marked his first season with two major wins.[36]
In the May 1–4 qualifying for the PBA Players Championship, the season's fifth and final major, Tackett again earned the #1 seed. This gave him the distinction of being the only player in PBA history to qualify as the top seed in four major tournaments during the same season.[37] However, Tackett would be upset in the May 7 quarterfinal round by fellow Indiana native Kevin McCune.[38]
In the PBA Super Slam Cup, a special event held for the 2023 major champions, Tackett finished runner-up to Jason Belmonte. However, Tackett electrified the crowd and TV audience by rolling a 300 game in the semifinal match against Kevin McCune. Because it occurred in a non-title event, it will not be recognized as an official PBA Tour televised 300, but Tackett did earn a $10,000 bonus for his feat.[39]
For the 2023 season, Tackett led the Tour in earnings with $458,450, which is the second-highest total in PBA history behind only Kyle Troup's record of $496,900 set in 2021.[40] Tackett also led the PBA Tour in points (41,200), average (227.18), titles (5) and major titles (2).[41] On December 8, 2023, Tackett was voted the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year, his second such award in his career.[42]
2024
Although he had yet to win a title in 2024, Tackett tied a PBA record on March 3 by making his fifth consecutive TV finals appearance. He is one of several players in PBA history to accomplish this feat, but the first to do so since 2001 (Jason Couch).[43]
Additional career highlights
Tackett has rolled 17 perfect 300 games in PBA competition through the 2019 season. He surpassed the $1 million mark in career PBA earnings during the 2021 season. He also owns 13 PBA Regional Tour titles.[3][44]
Only player in history to qualify as the top seed in four PBA major tournaments during the same season (2023)
Personal
E.J. is married to Natalie (Goodman) Tackett as of 2019. Natalie was a state champion bowler in high school (2011) and a two-time Southwestern Illinois Bowler of the Year (2009, 2011).[62] She has also competed for Junior Team USA (2013, 2014), and like her husband, is currently sponsored by MOTIV Bowling.[63] In 2024, Natalie won the USBC Indiana Queens championship. She and E.J. now have a son named Tripp.[64]
E.J.'s brother, Zac Tackett, also competes on the PBA Tour. Zac made his first television appearance when he qualified as the #8 seed in the 2023 PBA Players Championship, and he has won four PBA Regional Tour titles.[65][66]
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