2019 PBA Tournament of Champions

Belmonte Extends Lead As TOC Heads To Match Play

Belmonte Extends Lead As TOC Heads To Match Play

Jason Belmonte more than doubled his lead on the field Thursday afternoon as qualifying came to a close at the 2019 PBA Tournament of Champions.

Feb 7, 2019 by Lucas Wiseman
Belmonte Extends Lead As TOC Heads To Match Play

FAIRLAWN, Ohio – Jason Belmonte more than doubled his lead on the field Thursday afternoon as qualifying came to a close at the 2019 PBA Tournament of Champions.

Belmonte, who led by nearly 100 pins after the second round, jumped out to a 225-pin lead heading into round robin match play, which begins at 6 p.m. Eastern today live on FloBowling.

Belmonte finished Thursday’s final round of qualifying with an 18-game total of 4,279, a 237.72 average, to lead the field of 24 players who advanced into match play at AMF Riviera Lanes.

Results: PBA Tournament of Champions Qualifying Round 3

After shooting 1,451 in the first round and 1,373 in the second round, Belmonte put up his biggest six-game block of the tournament with 1,455 in the third round. He had games of 242, 277, 190, 240, 238 and 268 to help build his lead.

Sean Lavery-Spahr, who advanced into the main field through the pro-tour qualifier Monday, made a huge jump from eighth place up to second place heading into match play. Lavery-Spahr has an 18-game total of 4,054 and is just ahead of EJ Tackett, who is third with 4,046.

Josh Blanchard used a 300 game as part of a massive 1,467 block to jump up to fourth place with 4,043, while Andrew Anderson is fifth with 4,029.

Dick Allen and Tommy Jones tied for 23rd place and were the last players in the cut with a total of 3,862, a 214.56 average. Tom Daugherty was first out, finishing in 25th place with 3,861.

PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber, who was inside the cut going into the final round, dropped down to 38th place with 3,764 after shooting just 1,198 in the third round.

Rhino Page flirted with missing the cut throughout the day Thursday but found himself on the right side of the cut line at the end. Page, the only left-hander to advance, ended up in 22nd place with 3,864 after finishing with back-to-back 226 games.

The 24 advancing players will bowl 24 games of round robin match play starting Thursday night with the first round. The second round will be Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern and the final round will be Friday at 6 p.m. Eastern. The top five players after 42 total games will make Sunday’s stepladder finals.

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