By JILL LAUFER
PBA public relations
KOKOMO, Ind. — Jason Belmonte averaged 235 to lead all players through 12 games of qualifying in The Storm Cup: David Small’s Kokomo Championship.
Belmonte, who won his 14th Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour major championship in the season opening PBA Players Championship and finished third in the U.S. Open but missed the cut to the top 24 in last week’s The Storm Cup: David Small’s Best of the Best Championship, is 131 pins ahead of second-place EJ Tackett.
Tackett converted the 7-10 split in his final game of qualifying, in which he bowled by far his lowest game of the day, 153, but still found himself in second place with a 224 average.
Trailing Tackett and rounding out the top five are Richie Teece (+260), Anthony Simonsen (+255) and Arturo Quintero (+243). Kris Prather claimed the last spot in the top 24, bowling a 211 in his final game to finish at +103, three pins ahead of first man out Matt Ogle.
The top 24 players advance to Round of 24 qualifying and will bowl four games beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday before a cut to the top 16. Those players will bowl two more games and cut to the top eight, who will bowl two final games of qualifying to determine the four players competing in the stepladder finals.
TOP 10 THROUGH 12 GAMES
1, Jason Belmonte +421
2, EJ Tackett +290
3, Richie Teece +260
4, Anthony Simonsen +255
5, Arturo Quintero +243
6, Chris Via +219
7, Dick Allen +200
8, Tom Daugherty +193
9, Nick Pate +188
10, Andres Gomez +187