Jakob Butturff’s incredible run of success at the PBA Regional level continued Sunday as he picked another victory at the PBA Double Decker Lanes West/Northwest Open presented by Roto Grip in Rohnert Park, California.
The victory gave Butturff his 19th career regional title, an astonishing number for a bowler who is only 24 years old, and continues his rise up the list of all-time regional title winners.
In the championship match of the event, which was broadcast live on FloBowling, Butturff defeated fellow PBA Tour star Josh Blanchard, 259-206, to pick up the win.
Butturff, a left-hander, started the title match with four strikes in a row before leaving a seven pin and making it to lead by 40 pins after five frames.
Blanchard kicked off the match with a double but struggled in frames three through five, going high three times in a row. He left a 3-6-9-10 in the third and made it, left a 6-10 in the fourth and made it and, in the fifth frame, left the 3-4-6-7 split, which he missed.
However, Blanchard put together a string of three consecutive strikes from the seventh through the ninth frames to give himself a chance. That forced Butturff to mark in the final frame to lock up the title, and Butturff delivered a strike.
In the semifinal, Blanchard took down Wayne Garber, 232-222, in the closest match of the stepladder finals. After struggling early in the match, Blanchard made a key ball change and threw seven strikes in a row to close out the game.
Needing a double and one pin to advance, Blanchard went a little high but carried on his first shot in the 10th frame. On his second shot, Blanchard left a nine pin that got kicked out for a strike before striking on the fill ball.
The opening match of the four-player stepladder final had little drama as Garber defeated Tim Cagle II, 223-174. Cagle missed three makeable spares in the first six frames to fall behind big and never recovered.