By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — Two plus four.
Those are the numbers that could mean more than just a win for 30-year-old Tempe, Ariz., left-hander Jakob Butturff.
“Winning this one, especially because it’s something I’ve looked forward to my whole life, I could take that home with the pride and joy of something I really love to do,” Butturff said after earning a spot in Sunday’s championship stepladder finals of the PBA Tournament of Champions on Saturday at AMF Riviera Lanes.
Butturff, the lefty with the unconventional conventional grip and release, earned a shot at his second major title and ninth win overall by stopping two-handed lefty Keven Williams 278-247 during Saturday’s preliminary stepladder finals.
Butturff will meet 26-year-old Munster, Ind., right-hander Kevin McCune during Sunday’s opening match (3 p.m. on FOX). Waiting in the wings will be four-time 2025 winner EJ Tackett, Urbana lefty Graham Fach and the top seed, Swedish two-handed lefty Jesper Svensson.
But Saturday belonged to Butturff, who was the No. 6 seed entering the five-man preliminary stepladder to determine the No. 5 seed for Sunday’s show.
“I’m not going to lie … I’m still like shaking. It was by far the most intense thing. I think major shows do that,” Butturff said. “Walking through those doors is already a very special moment. To get to the final show, I’m speechless.
“At the same time, I’ve still got work to do.”
It was a lefty-heavy stepladder, with AJ Johnson being the lone right-hander.
“One of my favorite things to do when I follow lefties is to play a little deeper than the rest of them,” Butturff said. “I can create a little more shape than they do. I think that was an advantage against Keven.”
But in the back of Butturff’s mind is one dream — the PBA Hall of Fame, which inducted a new class of four enshrinees Friday night in Fairlawn.
With a win Sunday, Butturff becomes Hall.of Fame eligible with two major titles (he won the 2019 USBC Masters) and at least five titles.
SANDERS’ EARLY RUN
But it was Matt Sanders, a 31-year-old Evansville, Ind., lefty coming out of the No. 7 seed, who had the early advantage Saturday.
Sanders, a former PBA Rookie of the Year with one career title, had a slow start with four spares in Game 1 against two-handed lefty Patrick Hanrahan before striking on five of his next six shots en route to a 223-208 win.
He then was matched up against the stepladder’s lone right-hander — eight-time Team USA member AJ Johnson, who also was looking for his second title.
Sanders’ striking continued as he hit on four of his first five shots, converting a 6-8 split in the second to stay on point.
Johnson, on the other hand, had just two strikes through the first eight frames and three splits to stall any momentum.
“We did a lot in practice to try to set the pair up, and when I came over on the first four shots, the ball I was using looked really good,” said Johnson, who was seeking his first major title. “I thought it was a good and safe play to get me at least out of the first game and then follow the transition after that.”
But the notes Johnson had on the pair did not hold up.
“The lane that hooked ended up getting tighter and the lane that was tight ended up hooking,” said Johnson, adding his 2-4-10 split in the second frame was more on him because “it felt to me that the shot clock started early and I felt rushed.”
But after a strike in the third frame, he left a 4-pin in the fourth — and the wheels came off.
“When I left that 4-pin, I felt like was getting closer to it because of the urethane drag I created,” said Johnson, who was the lone player to use reactive resin (Motiv Subzero Forge). “So I thought if I made a move right on the left lane it would work. I thought I had the right lane pretty good, but they ended up flip-flopping.
“I made a couple of bad shots in the middle of the game that weren’t the greatest and I paid the maximum penalty for them. My look with urethane at the start wasn’t the greatest so I didn’t want to start with that right away.”
With Johnson admittedly having problems, Sanders stayed clean for a 223-146 win to advance.
MISTAKES EARLY
But Sanders’ clean night ended when he failed to convert a 2-4-7 spare against Butturff in the first frame of the next match. Butturff, for his part, also left back-to-back 2-4-7 spares, but converted both.
“I’m not going to lie … there were some nerves the first couple of shots,” said Butturff, who heard the crowd chants of “Let’s go Butters” during all his shots. “The crowd noise really helps lower my anxiety. I’m a very anxious person anyway.
“But I just took a couple of deep breaths and made sure I kept my feet going and didn’t lower my back too much.”
Sanders again opened by missing a 7-pin spare in the fourth. But then he went on a five-strike string into the 10th frame. After Butturff had three straight spares, including a 5-pin, he ran off the final five strikes to force Sanders to double in the 10th to pull out the win.
Instead, Sanders left a 4-7 spare on his opening shot to fall 234-222.
“I almost 5-pinned earlier, and knew I needed to strike. I just told myself to get it to the head pin,” Sanders said. “I got it going up the lane to try to correct it, but I did it too much. It is what it is.
“Most of us had the right lane tighter leading up to the set. But it seemed like the front part of the lane started hooking more and it got tighter down lane and made it different. The left lane was pretty good for me.”
TITLE MATCH
Butturff knew the title pair — the iconic Lanes 27-28 at AMF Rivera — was going to be tighter.
“I knew I had to use more surface,” said Butturff, who like all three of the other lefties went with the Hammer Black Pearl urethane.
Williams started the title match with a 4-pin spare but then ran off three strikes in a row before leaving a 4-7 spare. The problem was, Butturff wasn’t missing at all.
Butturff ran off the first eight strikes before leaving a 10-pin spare to ruin his 300 bid. He then added a double in the 10th frame.
“I thought the lanes were going to be trickier … that I would have to go to resin at some point,” said Williams, a 32-year-old Roseville, Calif., lefty also with one career title. “They weren’t really hard. I just missed a move in the 10th frame or otherwise I shoot 260 and at least force him to double.
“I bowled a good game, but he bowled a better one. It’s hard to get mad when you have 270 thrown at you. But this is the PBA Tour and a major. It’s how it goes.”
Williams had expected different lane conditions, but it was dependent on how the four lefties broke them down.
“But everyone was trying to strike today so I thought the lanes would get gross for that reason, especially in the last match,” said Williams, who, in hindsight, said he should have used a timeout in the 10th frame to reset. “But I was completely wrong about that.
“He’s bowled huge games against me the couple of times I’ve faced him on TV. I thought he might have liked me. I wanted to strike out to at least force him to show up in the 10th. I like to test a player’s clutch factor.”
Tackett had hoped that Johnson would advance to give the righties a 3-2 advantage in Sunday’s finals. It didn’t happen.
“Having that extra player to blend them in practice would have set them up nicer for the righties,” Johnson said. “But the left side looks real good right now. It was kind of that way all through match play.
“I hope for their sake they can create a slot for themselves and slow down the left a little bit. But it’s going to be tough.”
Williams doesn’t expect high scoring.
“I don’t think they are going to be that easy,” said Williams, who felt he left more than 200 pins on the table by missing spares during qualifying and match play after falling just 28 pins shy of qualifying for the championship round instead of McCune. “The stakes are higher and (Svensson and Fach) have a little more rev rate. It will be more of a grind.”
But Butturff hopes to take momentum from Saturday into the championship finals. Jason Belmonte also came from the No. 6 spot in 2023 to win his fourth TOC title in a 17-man stepladder.
“I’ll try to give it the same as I did today. I have a lot of momentum going into tomorrow because of the 278 and the front-eight against Keven,” Butturff said. “So I’m going to use that to my advantage and try to take down a couple of future Hall of Famers.”
All in his quest for his own possible Hall of Fame inclusion in the future.
PRELIMS ROUND MATCHES
Match 1: No. 8 Matt Sanders def. No. 9 Packy Hanrahan, 223-208
Match 2: No. 8 Matt Sanders def. No. 7 AJ Johnson, 223-146
Match 3: No. 6 Jakob Butturff def. No. 8 Matt Sanders, 234-221
Championship: No. 6 Jakob Butturff def. No. 5 Keven Williams, 278-247
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND MATCHES
Match 1: No. 6 Jakob Butturff vs. No. 4 Kevin McCune
Match 2: winner vs. No. 3 EJ Tackett
Match 3: winner vs. No. 2 Graham Fach
Championship: winner vs. No. 1 Jesper Svensson