After making the cut to match play in the PBA Cheetah Championship on Tuesday and the PBA Chameleon Championship on Wednesday, Bill O’Neill is now tied for the lead after the first round of qualifying for the 2019 PBA Scorpion Championship.

O’Neill, who also leads qualifying for the PBA World Championship, fired a five-game total of 1,179, a 235.8 average, to lead the field at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan. Kevin Donovan also shot 1,179 to earn a share of the lead.

O’Neill started the day with games of 236, 254 and 266 before closing with 214 and 209. The field will return to the lanes at 6:30 p.m. Eastern for the second round of qualifying live on FloBowling.

Results: WSOB Scorpion Qualifying Round 1

Donovan, meanwhile, used four big games to get to the top of the leaderboard along with O’Neill. He shot 247, 249 and 256 before struggling to a 179 in Game 4. He closed strong, however, with a 248 game.

Jason Belmonte sits in third with 1,174, while Thomas Larsen is fourth with 1,170. BJ Moore rounds out the top five with 1,163.

The top 16 players after tonight’s final round of qualifying will advance to the single-elimination match-play bracket Wednesday. Arturo Quintero and Pontus Andersson are currently tied for 16^th place with 1,104, a 220.8 average.

Qualifying scores for the Cheetah, Chameleon and Scorpion are being used to determine the 45 players who will advance to Friday’s cashers qualifying for the World Championship. O’Neill’s 25-game total of 5,695, a 227.8 average, has him at the top of the pack with five games remaining.

Tom Daugherty is in second place with 5,663, Belmonte is third with 5,677, Kyle Sherman is fourth with 5,605 and Moore is fifth at 5,600.

Currently sitting on the cut line with one block to go in 45^th place is Osku Palermaa, who has a 5,252 total, a 210.08 average. For the full World Championships standings, click here.