By NOLAN HUGHES
PBA Communications
MILWAUKEE — As the Guaranteed Rate World Series of Bowling XIV rolled onto PBA Scorpion Championship qualifying, the two leading candidates for PBA Player of the Year rose to the top.
At Bowlero Wauwatosa, EJ Tackett and Anthony Simonsen occupy the top two positions through 10 games on the 42-foot Scorpion pattern. Tackett leads with a total pinfall of 2,274 (+274), eclipsing Simonsen by nine pins.
Fittingly at the WSOB, England’s Stu Williams, Sweden’s Jesper Svensson and Finland’s Santtu Tahvanainen round out the top five, each averaging over 225.
PBA World Championship qualifying consists of scores from the PBA Cheetah, Scorpion and Shark Championships. After all 60 games of qualifying, the top 12 players will advance to a round-robin match play round.
Through 30 games, Tackett (+993) leads BJ Moore by 100 pins for the pole position. Nathan Bohr (+738) sits in 12th place through six rounds.
Competition resumes Wednesday at noon ET. The finalists of the PBA Scorpion Championship will be determined following the third and fourth rounds of qualifying on Wednesday.
PBA Shark Championship qualifying begins on Thursday.
See complete scores here;