By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — After being a two-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour Player of the Year, what could EJ Tackett due for an encore?
How about a career season for the ages.
Heading into Sunday’s stepladder finals of the PBA Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes, the 32-year-old Bluffton, Ind., right-hander has had a remarkable run.
Consider:
- Tackett has made nine stepladder finals during his 14 events this season, including all six during the World Series of Bowling in Reno, Nev.
- Overall, he has cashed in 12 of 14 events with four overall titles, including two majors (U.S. Open, PBA World Championship).
- He has accumulated 32,690 points, which is 15,000 ahead of his closest competitor (Andrew Anderson).
- His earnings already have topped $328,000 — almost 2 1/2 times that of his closest competitor (Anderson again).
But during the Players Championship in Michigan last week, Tackett proved that even he could have a bad week.
“My timing and things just got off a little bit,” Tackett said. “But I was able to work on some things at home.”
Was fatigue a factor after his big run in Reno?
“I was really, really tired. There were a lot of games, a lot of TV shows,” Tackett said. “Mentally, physically, emotionally it was tough. But I was able to work through it and win a couple of championships.
“Last week, I had a bunch of time off unfortunately.”
He recovered this week to earn the No. 3 seed for Sunday’s finals after being the qualifying leader by averaging 241.56 over 18 games. He was never out of the top four after the opening qualifying round, when he was 34th.
Was the time off a blessing in disguise last week?
“I feel fine, but Reno was a little rough,” Tackett said. “But there is never a benefit not to be bowling.”
The remainder of Sunday’s finalists include top-seeded Jesper Svensson, No. 2 seeded Graham Fach and No. 4 Kevin McCune, with the fifth competitor to be determined after today’s 5 p.m. opening stepladder finals featuring the Nos. 5 through 9 seeds. Of the entire group, there are only three right-handers — Tackett, McCune and AJ Johnson.
Tackett would like to see Johnson emerge from the initial stepladder.
“It all depends of if AJ can make it through the prelims to the Sunday show to give us three righties,” Tackett said. “If that does happen, we as righties need to be able to break the pair down correctly and give ourselves an opportunity to strike. I feel that’s the only chance we have.
“If there are three lefties, the only advantage would be if they drag the lane too much and have trouble striking. I don’t think they are going to have a hard time hitting the pocket. It’s just whether their balls are able to go through the pins the right way or not.”
This is not unfamiliar territory for Tackett, who ran through four left-handers as the No. 4 seed during the 2024 PBA World Championships in Allen Park, Mich., to claim his fifth major title.
“I felt like the lefties bowled unbelievable on that show, but they just couldn’t knock 10 out,” said Tackett, who beat Matt Russo 225-194 for the title but also stopped two lefties who will be on Sunday’s show during his run — Fach 213-202 and Svensson 193-184.
“We just never know what’s going to happen. We’ll see how the pair (Lanes 27 and 28) is going to play. We didn’t bowl on it during match play so it will be a little different since it hasn’t been run. It will be interesting.”
Tackett, has won TOC win on his résumé, was runner-up to Jason Belmonte when the latter won his fourth TOC in 2023 after winning six matches during a 19-player stepladder. He also was second to Belmonte in 2019 at Riviera — a place where he has never won.
But other career marks also are on the line Sunday for Tackett — major wins in a season (three would tie Belmonte) and season average (he also is competing with Belmonte’s 2017 mark).
“All that matters is what is right in front of me,, and that’s winning the Tournament of Champions,” Tackett said. “If it do that, the other stuff will take of itself.”
SVENSSON AT THE TOP
How did the lefties dominate this week?
“If I knew that, my scores would have been different,” said Svensson, who slumped to a 1-7 record during Thursday’s second round of match play before rolling back into the lead on the evening shift. He was 8-0 during his first match-play shift Wednesday.
“It’s a constant thing out here every single week. You don’t know what makes the difference. This week, it happened for me and it is what it is.”
Svensson has no game plan with just one game to win.
“I’m just happy I could find a little something out there. I’m always going to be fighting no matter what, good or bad,” the 29-year-old two-handed Swedish lefty who has 12 PBA Tour titles. “I’m going to show heart. I felt like I showed that all year and that’s what gives me these opportunities when they came along.
“When they do, physically and mentally to where I can take advantage of them, I can do some damage and I’m proud of that. Right now, my hands are a little sore so the two days off will help. We’ll see where it is when we get there.”
NOTEBOOK: The TOC originally was moved out of Riviera Lanes in 1994. It had homes in Chicago, Uncasville, Conn., and Las Vegas before returning for a two-year stint in 2018-19. It then went to Jupiter, Fla., for one season before returning again to Riviera, where it has been the last four seasons. … Belmonte has two of the past four TOCs at Riviera, with Dom Barrett (2022) and Marshall Kent (2024) taking the other two. … Limited tickets are available for the two shows. Saturday’s prelim stepladder will air at 5 p.m. on FS1. Sunday’s finals will air at 3 p.m. on FOX.