By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — Someone asked Michael Davidson how both ends of AMF Riviera Lanes were playing during Tuesday’s Pre-Tournament Qualifier (PTQ) for this week’s PBA Tournament of Champions.
“They asked me which side was hooking more,” the 24-year-old Versailles right-hander said. “I really told them I didn’t know … I haven’t moved in four games.”
It was that kind of day for the nonwinner, who set the PBA’s 12-game scoring record in January 2025 in Delaware by knocking down 3,096 pins, a 257.17 average.
Davidson topped a 53-player PTQ field to lead 12 advancers into Wednesday’s opening qualifying round of the TOC with 1,695 total pinfall, a 242.14 average, including shooting 794 over his final three games.
“After the first couple of games, I really started settling in and the lanes were beginning to change,” said Davidson, a former three-time NAIA All-American at Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.).
“Once I found the right hand position that I needed to, was in the correct ball and had my hand behind the ball and just let it roll, the lanes just opened up a crazy amount for me. I was rolling it so well that I didn’t have to change a whole lot.”
Tim Foy,, who had led the PTQ through most of the day, finished second with 1,617, followed by Nicholas Pate (1,612). Ryan Barnes, who had led after Game 1 and then sunk out of the 12, moved back up to fifth (1,565).
Jefferson’s Casey Cohagan, a 29-year-old righty and former Notre Dame College player, qualified out of the PTQ for the second season in a row, finishing ninth with 1,546, shooting 238 his final game to preserve his spot.
The final qualifying spot resulted in a tie between Sean Lavery-Spahr and Ethan McDonald at 1,510, as the former shot just 188 in Game 7 while the latter went 247 and 246 his final two games.
It forced a one-game rolloff, with Lavery-Spahr winning 204-168 to earn the final spot in the TOC field.
COHAGAN’S DAY
Cohagan referred to his first TOC experience in 2025 as “I made the field … we’ll leave it at that.”
In fact, he finished 57th overall while averaging 205.72 for 18 qualifying games. What did he learn for this time around?
“It’s more or less just seeing shapes that I didn’t see last year and not trying to force things to work,” said Cohagan, the 2025 Youngstown Masters champion who paired with senior partner Jerry Rich to earn a top-12 spot in the PBA-PBA50 Doubles on Sunday at Clutch Lanes and Sports Center in Cuyahoga Falls.
“If it looks wrong, it probably is wrong. It’s not always me making the mistake. I have to get out of that mindset that, ‘Oh, everyone else is doing this so it should work for me.’ I just have to get the hell out of it if something looks funky.”
Davidson watched a lot of strikes being thrown Tuesday — and he knows a lot more are coming once the PBA Tour champions take the lanes at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
“Obviously, we know we can do that in this building, but (Wednesday) is a brand new event. We have to start fresh and keep throwing it,” said Davidson, who has made the main field only once in 2021 while the TOC was held in Jupiter, Fla., prior to its return to Fairlawn.
“Historically, I have not had much success in this building. So it was really nice to see some strikes for a change.”
NOTEBOOK: The PTQ qualifying number was adjusted twice Tuesday, going from eight to 11 because one bowler had been missed on the original list. It was then adjusted to 12 because one nonchampion had appeared on the PBA exempt list for the event, a mistake that was not discovered until Game 5 of the PTQ. To avoid cutting the qualifying number back to eight again, officials decided to add an extra spot. … Foy posted the high game of the PTQ with 289 in Game 2. … Six-game qualifying rounds are set for 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday, with the Johnson 40 oil pattern being used for the main event. The PTQ was bowled on the PBA Test 40. … Tickets are $10 for each shift or $15 for an all-day pass. Sunday’s 4 p.m. live broadcast on the CW is sold out.
See complete scores from the PTQ here:
https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69320c3c0157dd1730cf464a