The U.S. Open is one of the five major tournaments in the Professional Bowlers Association. Despite its status as a PBA Tour major, the tournament is open to qualifying amateurs as well as PBA members. The U.S. Open is considered one of the most difficult tournaments to bowl in today, due to its long format (56 games from opening qualifying through the match play rounds; 64 games if a player from the pre-tournament qualifier makes it through) and demanding oil patterns, which differ from most oil patterns the PBA employs. [1]
With the exception of 1997 and 2014, the U.S. Open has been held in some form every year since 1942. Prior to 1971, this event was known as the BPAA All-Star. In its early years, the BPAA All-Star was a 100-game tournament. Andy Varipapa is notable for winning back-to-back BPAA All-Star titles in 1947 and 1948, the second coming at age 57, which makes him this tournament's oldest winner. [2] BPAA All-Star winners in the PBA era (1959–1970) were initially not credited with PBA titles for their victories. A rule change in 2008, however, retroactively awarded titles to the winners if they were PBA members at the time of their victories. Because the 1959 BPAA All-Star occurred before the PBA's debut, Harry Smith (1960) earned the first PBA title in a BPAA All-Star event.
The first modern-day U.S. Open tournament in the PBA took place in 1971 and was won by Mike Limongello. With five wins, Pete Weber holds the most U.S. Open trophies of all time, one more than his father, Dick Weber, and Don Carter. [3] Pete Weber is also the only player to win a U.S. Open title in four different decades (1988, 1991, 2003-04, 2006-07 and 2011-12). The only player to successfully defend a U.S. Open title was Dave Husted, who won the event in 1995 and 1996. Since then, only two bowlers have come close to joining Husted. After winning in 2007-08, Norm Duke finished runner-up to Mike Scroggins in 2008-09. Scroggins then finished runner-up in 2009-10. Since 1971, only eight bowlers have won multiple U.S. Open titles:
There has only been one time in modern-day U.S. Open tournament history that two former U.S. Open champions met in a final. In the 2010-11 U.S. Open Championship match, 2001-02 winner Mika Koivuniemi needed a spare and 9 pins in the tenth frame to defeat 2007-08 winner Norm Duke, but missed the 10-pin to the right and Duke would win 225 to 216. This would also be the only time two bowlers met in multiple U.S. Open Finals as Duke had defeated Koivuniemi 224 to 216 in the 2007-08 Final.
The 1987 U.S. Open, sponsored by Seagram Wine Coolers, offered a then-record total purse of $500,000, and was the first PBA tournament to award a $100,000 first prize (won by Del Ballard Jr.).
Unable to find viable sponsorship, the U.S. Open was canceled for 2014, amid speculation that the tournament may not return at all. [4] However, the USBC and BPAA later reached a three-year agreement that brought the tournament back for 2015, 2016 and 2017. [5] The USBC and BPAA secured Bowlmor AMF, at the time the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, as the title sponsor for 2015. [6] The 2015 tournament took place November 2–8 in Garland, Texas.
Beginning in 2017 with the U.S. Open held at Flamingo Bowl in Liverpool, New York, the tournament instituted a partial invitational field for the first time. [7] Among those invited are top money leaders among PBA members, top performers from a variety of USBC events, members of Team USA and Junior Team USA, winners of the past ten U.S. Opens, the last three winners from each of the PBA's other major championships, and winners of the current year PBA Regional Tour U.S. Open qualifier tournaments. The "open" portion of the tournament is actually a pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) with a maximum of 80 entries. Top finishers from the eight-game PTQ then join all those who accepted invitations to round out the starting field of 144 players. [8] The 2018 event had 116 invitational entries and only 28 open spots available via the PTQ. [9] In 2019, only 91 invitees entered the tournament, so 53 open spots were filled from the PTQ. [10]
Starting in 2020, the starting field has been limited to only 108 players. After the starting field is determined, players bowl 24 qualifying games in three 8-game blocks on three different lane conditions. The top 36 in pinfall advance to the cashers round for 8 more games. The top 24 players after the cashers round then bowl 24 round-robin, head-to-head match play games, all on the 41-foot "pattern four". In the match play round, players are awarded actual pinfall plus 30 bonus pins for every match won (15 bonus pins each in the case of a tie). The top five after the match play round advance to the televised championship finals, which is on the same oil pattern as match play. [11]
The 2025 U.S. Open was held at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 27 to February 2, with a pre-tournament qualifier on January 26. The tournament had a field of 108 players and a prize fund of $301,550, with a $100,000 top prize. [12] E. J. Tackett, the #2 seed, won his 24th PBA Tour title, sixth major, and second U.S. Open (having previously won in 2023). After eliminating previous U.S. Open winner Chris Via in the semifinal match, Tackett defeated top seed Andrew Anderson in the final match, 238–184, to don his second career green jacket. [13]
| Match #1 | Match #2 | Match #3 | Title match | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Andrew Anderson | 184 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | E. J. Tackett | 245 | 2 | E. J. Tackett | 238 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Chris Via | 238 | 3 | Chris Via | 152 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | François Lavoie | 246 | 5 | François Lavoie | 226 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Anthony Simonsen | 206 | ||||||||||||||||
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Championship match score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Mike Limongello | Teata Semiz | 194–186 |
| 1972 | Don Johnson | George Pappas | 233–224 |
| 1973 | Mike McGrath | Earl Anthony | 234–222 |
| 1974 | Larry Laub | Dave Davis | 258–237 |
| 1975 | Steve Neff | Paul Colwell | 279–217 |
| 1976 | Paul Moser | Jim Frazier | 226–195 |
| 1977 | Johnny Petraglia | Bill Spigner | 279–232 |
| 1978 | Nelson Burton Jr. | Jeff Mattingly | 204–201 |
| 1979 | Joe Berardi | Earl Anthony | 232–195 |
| 1980 | Steve Martin | Earl Anthony | 248–222 |
| 1981 | Marshall Holman | Mark Roth | 200–179 |
| 1982 | Dave Husted | Gil Sliker | 255–180 |
| 1983 | Gary Dickinson | Steve Neff | 214–202 |
| 1984 | Mark Roth | Guppy Troup | 244–237 |
| 1985 | Marshall Holman (2) | Wayne Webb | 233–205 |
| 1986 | Steve Cook | Frank Ellenburg | 245–211 |
| 1987 | Del Ballard Jr. | Pete Weber | 247–209 |
| 1988 | Pete Weber | Marshall Holman | 203–171 |
| 1989 | Mike Aulby | Jim Pencak | 195–178 |
| 1990 | Ron Palombi Jr. | Amleto Monacelli | 269–205 |
| 1991 | Pete Weber (2) | Mark Thayer | 289–184 |
| 1992 | Robert Lawrence | Scott Devers | 226–221 |
| 1993 | Del Ballard Jr. (2) | Walter Ray Williams Jr. | 237–193 |
| 1994 | Justin Hromek | Parker Bohn III | 267–230 |
| 1995 | Dave Husted (2) | Paul Koehler | 266–245 |
| 1996 | Dave Husted (3) | George Brooks | 216–214 |
| 1997 | Not held | ||
| 1998 | Walter Ray Williams Jr. | Tim Criss | 221–189 |
| 1999 | Bob Learn Jr. | Jason Couch | 231–215 |
| 2000 | Robert Smith | Norm Duke | 202–201 |
| 2001–02 | Mika Koivuniemi | Patrick Healey, Jr. | 247–182 |
| 2002–03 | Walter Ray Williams Jr. (2) | Michael Haugen Jr. | 236–198 |
| 2003–04 | Pete Weber (3) | Brian Voss | 231–178 |
| 2004–05 | Chris Barnes | Patrick Allen | 213–212 |
| 2005–06 | Tommy Jones | Ryan Shafer | 237–223 |
| 2006–07 | Pete Weber (4) | Wes Malott | 210–204 |
| 2007–08 | Norm Duke | Mika Koivuniemi | 224–216 |
| 2008–09 | Mike Scroggins | Norm Duke | 191–173 |
| 2009–10 | Bill O'Neill | Mike Scroggins | 267–207 |
| 2010–11 | Norm Duke (2) | Mika Koivuniemi | 225–216 |
| 2011–12 | Pete Weber (5) | Mike Fagan | 215–214 |
| 2012–13 | Wes Malott | Jason Belmonte | 214–156 |
| 2014 | Not held | ||
| 2015 | Ryan Ciminelli | Dominic Barrett | 236–223 |
| 2016 | François Lavoie | Marshall Kent | 228–194 |
| 2017 | Rhino Page | Jakob Butturff | 256–222 |
| 2018 | Dominic Barrett | Jakob Butturff | 207–206 |
| 2019 | François Lavoie (2) | Sean Rash | 221–172 |
| 2020 | Jason Belmonte | Anthony Simonsen | 226–201 |
| 2021 | Chris Via | Jakob Butturff | 214–213 |
| 2022 | Anthony Simonsen | E. J. Tackett | 232–165 |
| 2023 | E. J. Tackett | Kyle Troup | 221–208 |
| 2024 | Kyle Troup | Anthony Simonsen | 223–181 |
| 2025 | E. J. Tackett (2) | Andrew Anderson | 238–184 |
The U.S. Open featured what PBA.com describes as "the toughest lane oil design in all of bowling." The pattern is considered "flat," meaning equal amounts of oil are applied to every lane board. Archived 2007-12-26 at the Wayback Machine (A typical lane condition allows more oil in the middle section of lane boards, and lesser amounts on the outer boards.)
Many claim the oil pattern was responsible for the lack of left-handed winners in this tournament, because there isn't enough ball traffic on the left side to create a "track area." [14] When Mike Scroggins won the 2009 event in North Brunswick, New Jersey, he became the first left-hander in 20 years (Mike Aulby, 1989) to earn a U.S. Open title. Aulby's win was on an oil pattern where oil was applied more heavily on the outer boards (that is, those closest to the gutters), to the point where the outer parts of the lanes were effectively unplayable. In all, left-handers accounted for six victories (McGrath [1973], Moser [1976], Petraglia [1977], Cook [1986], Aulby [1989], and Scroggins [2009-10]) and nine runner-up finishes (Anthony [1973, 1979, 1980], Davis [1974], Devers [1992], Bohn [1994], Couch [1999], Allen [2004-05], Scroggins [2009-10]) at the U.S. Open since 1971. It was also the only major title that left-hander and 43-time titlist Earl Anthony never won in his career, though he did finish runner-up three times. In recent years, lefty Jakob Butturff joined Anthony as the only 3-time runner-ups [2017, 2018, 2021] with no titles. Additionally, Anthony and Butturff are the only two bowlers to finish runner-up and in back-to-back years. The two most recent lefties to win the U.S. Open titles were Ryan Ciminelli [2015] and Rhino Page [2017]. In the 2017 U.S. Open Championship match, Page defeated Butturff, and it was the first time two lefties met in a U.S. Open final since McGrath defeated Anthony in the 1973 U.S. Open Championship match; Butturff and Anthony would both bowl 222.