Belmonte holds off O'Neill, Jones to retain U.S. Open lead

02/27/10

2009-10 PBA Tour #14

Australian two-hander player clings to 27–pin lead after first match play round

200910PBAJasonBelmonte.jpg200910PBATommyJones.jpgJason Belmonte (pictured left), the two-hander from Down-under barely held onto the lead after the opening round of match play in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl Friday, fending off challengers Bill O'Neill of Southampton, Pa., and Tommy Jones (right) of Simpsonville, S.C.

Belmonte, who led by 178 pins heading into Friday's competition, finished the day with a 5-3 match play record, 7,871 total pins for 35 games and a 27-pin edge over O'Neill. Jones, who came into match play 273 pins behind of the Australian two-handed star, was in third place, 79 pins behind after both he and O'Neill had closed to within eight pins of the lead with one game to go.

200910PBAParkerBohn.jpg200910PBAWalterRayWilliams.jpgParker Bohn III (left) of Jackson, N.J., was in fourth place with 7,664 pins and two-time U.S. Open champion Walter Ray Williams Jr. (right), who is trying for his 48th career victory and second major title of the season, was in fifth place with a 7,657 total.

"It was me and Frodo Baggins walking to Mordor tonight," Belmonte said. "It was an adventure like Lord of the Rings. I needed a map.

"In match play the lanes are going to play differently depending upon who played where and how the oil was broken down as you move across the center," Belmonte added. "It's really different in the U.S. Open because earlier in the day, guys played all over the lanes. It was hard to find anything, but Tommy Jones found something. Everyone else was bowling 180s and he had nothing under 205. But that's what makes players at his echelon as good as they are. They rise up."

200910PBABillONeill.jpgO'Neill (pictured left), who said he made a change in his timing and the way he was playing the lanes after he wound up in 185th place after the first six games, almost overtook Belmonte.

"I'm bowling good now. I'm getting a good ball reaction and I got some good luck tonight. Three times guys could have beat me in the 10th frame and they didn't," O'Neill said. "I was fortunate. I'll have to do better tomorrow or I won't be around on Sunday."

The 24 match play finalists will bowl two more eight-game match play rounds Saturday to determine the top four players who will advance to Sunday's live ESPN stepladder finals at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

At stake is the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour's final major title of the 2009-10 season, a $60,000 first prize and a three-year PBA Tour exemption.

 


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67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open - Fifth Round Results


Players with position, hometown, won-lost record and 35-game total including bonus pins.

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