PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia averaged 247 for seven games Saturday to lead the first round of the PBA60 David Small’s Jax 60 National Championship in memory of Mel Wolf at Jax 60 Lanes.

The 72-year-old left-hander, who owns 14 PBA Tour and eight PBA50 Tour titles, bowled a 1,734 seven-game pinfall total with games of 214, 258, 278, 237, 246, 279 and 222 to lead the field of 105 players ages 60 and older.

“With the longer (lane conditioning) pattern I’m able to throw the ball slower and that’s to my advantage,” Petraglia said. “It’s when I have to throw hard is when I get into trouble.

“I started practice with two balls that were pretty similar, but I went with the one that was a little stronger because it allowed me to move inside if I needed to and it gave me more room for error,” Petraglia added.

Petraglia’s first senior title came at Jax 60 Lanes (then Airport Lanes) when he won the 1998 PBA Senior National Championship and then won there a second time when he captured the 2008 Senior Jackson Open.

“This has been a good center for me and I have a lot of good memories of bowling here as you can imagine,” Petraglia said. “So, I’m hoping for good things to happen as the tournament continues.”

Petraglia’s last “senior” tour event win came in the 2012 PBA50 Senior Dayton Classic. He has yet to win a PBA60 event but has two runner-up finishes to his credit.

Petraglia leads fellow left-hander, three-time PBA50 Tour titlist and 2018 USBC Super Senior Classic winner Mike Dias of Lafayette, Colorado and Gary Reh of Fort Mohave, Arizona, tied for second with 1,653. Rounding out the top five are Mike Mineman, St. Louis, Missouri, 1,643 and Kevin Foley, Reno, Nevada, 1,633.

The entire field returns for another seven-game qualifying round Sunday at 11 a.m. ET after which the top 24 players will advance to the first match play round at 4 p.m. ET. Match play continues with rounds Monday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to determine the top five for the stepladder finals at 6 p.m.

The tournament is named in honor of longtime PBA50 competitor Mel Wolf who passed away in 2011. The one-time PBA50 Tour titlist was the driving force in bringing the senior tour to Jackson for the first time in 1992.