FAIRLAWN — Even the hottest bowler on the planet can get frustrated once In a while.
Especially when leading a tournament and going 193 and 192 during his final two qualifying games.
After coming out during the initial qualifying round with a 243 average over his first eight games, EJ Tackett found some problems during the third qualifying round of the PBA Tournament of Champions on Wednesday at AMF Riviera Lanes.
“I bowled good the first game, but after that, the lanes played kind of weird,” said Tackett, a 30-year-old Bluffton, Ind., right-hander who has three wins this season, including the U.S. Open. He owns 19 career PBA titles.
“The fourth game again was good, but the last two pairs were tough. It seemed like every time I threw a good shot, I got nine it felt like. Then I missed a couple of spares, which is just dumb. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s still frustrating to end a block like that.
“You feel like you can put some distance between you and the rest of the field by bowling some good games and you just don’t do it. But there’s 24 more games to go so we’ll see.”
Tackett finished the morning block with 4,129 total pinfall, just 34 pins ahead of Stuart Williams (4,095), with Jesper Svensson sitting third (4,053).
Tackett has enjoyed a lot of success in the TOC, winning the title in 2017 and finishing second to Jason Belmonte in 2019. He has missed match play just once in the event.
But he also knows there is a long way to go with 24 match-play games and 30 bonus pins being awarded for wins (15 for ties).
“Hopefully, I can throw a lot of strikes. But anything can happen in match play,” Tackett said. “It doesn’t really matter that I’m leading. That becomes kind of irrelevant in match play with 700 bonus pins available.
“Anybody has a chance with that many games and that many bonus pins on the line. I’ve just seen too many players do it over the years.”
One of those is Belmonte, who led the morning block with 1,446, a 241 average, while throwing 71 percent strikes during his eight games. The Australian, who was 51st in the 64-man field after two qualifying rounds while averaging just 204.17, made the cut in 20th place with 3,896. He owns 14 PBA major titles.
“I knew mathematically that I could still get there,” Belmonte said. “In the second frame of the first game, I tripped a 4-pin and felt like, hey, that’s one. Let’s keep it coming. I just didn’t let up.
“I had a couple of tricky pairs, but I was able to bail them out. It does two things: it inspires me and let’s everyone in the building know when I’m starting to strike, I’m running up that hill.”
“With Belmo, I’ve seen this act before,” Tackett said of the two-handed righty who has reached the TOC finals in nine of the past 11 seasons with three wins. “He squeaks in and then goes nuts in match play. I have to put a lot of good games together. With him and Simo (Anthony Simonsen), anything is possible. I just want to try to retain the lead.”
Simonsen, who won the only tourney this season that Tackett did not, floated around the cut line most of the morning before shooting 237, 226 and 224 over his final three games to move up to 16th.
FACH MAKES CUT
Urbana left-hander Graham Fach also had a solid performance early Thursday, starting with 269 and finishing with 1,327 for the block and staying 92 percent clean for his eight games. He jumped from 32nd Tuesday into the cut, sitting 22nd with 3,895.
“A lot went right today. I thought I was in good position going into the morning and I knew I was in striking distance,” Fach said. “So I threw a lot of good shots early and I was able to coast off of that thankfully.”
Fach said he only had to “make minor tweaks here and there.”
“I had a similar game plan (to Tuesday), it was just a question of committing to it,” Fach said. “I hit a pair with five lefties and had to play a little different with them. That was the key to my success today.”
Fach has a simple game plan, very similar to Tackett.
“Win as many games as I can,” Fach said, “and climb as high as I can.”
NOTEBOOK
STILL ALIVE: Past TOC Champions remaining in the field include Tackett, Belmonte, Svensson, François Lavoie and Kris Prather. Among those missing the cut were defending champion Dom Barrett, Pete Weber, Sean Rash, Tommy Jones, Chris Barnes, Steve Jaros and Mark Williams. Rash, the 2012 champion, had made three straight TOC stepladder finals, while Prather has been in the title match two of the past three seasons — both at Riviera. Barrett finished 33rd with 3,838.
BIG CROWD: The addition of over 150 Northeast Ohio high school students boosted the morning attendance to near capacity.
ADVANCING FROM PTQ: AJ Chapman, who finished first during Monday’s pre-tournament qualifier, missed the cut to match play by three pins after shooting 177 his final game. Players from the PTQ who made match play included Patrick Hanrahan (10, 3,958), Frank Snodgrass (21st, 3,895) and Tim Gruendler (23rd, 3,890).
SCHEDULE: Match play begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday, with gate admission being $15. Match play continues with two rounds at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday, with gate admission at $15 per shift or $25 for an all-day pass.
NOTEBOOK: The cut came at 3,890 for 18 qualifying games, with Richard Teece earning the final spot in match play with 3,890 after a 203 his final game. … Parker Bohn III was last in the field, rolling only one 200 game during qualifying for 3,283. … Matthew Ogle had the high game of the block with 279 and Belmonte had 277.
See complete scores here: