2020 PBA Tour Returns With Official Event in July

2020 PBA Tour Returns With Official Professional Bowling Event in July

by kwarner2 | Monday, June 15, 1:20 PM

Fourth-Annual PBA Tour Finals Features 9 Hours of Live Coverage on CBS Sports Network From Florida

JUPITER, FL (June 11, 2020) – The Go Bowling! Professional Bowlers Association Tour returns to championship event competition as eight of the Tour’s top performers based on competition points earned over a two-year span – including defending champion E.J. Tackett – will take center stage July 18 and 19 for the PBA Tour Finals at Bowlero Jupiter, FL. The event will be televised live, in its entirety, on CBS Sports Network.

Tackett, who defeated Jakob Butturff for the 2019 Barbasol PBA Tour Finals presented by Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas, and also won the inaugural event in 2017 in Orlando, qualified third for this year’s Tour Finals by accumulating 44,950 points in PBA Tour competition over the last two seasons ending with the PBA World Championship in March when play was placed on pause due to COVID-19.

Jason Belmonte is the Tour Finals points leader with 61,485, but the 2018 PBA Tour Finals champion will not be able to travel from his home in Australia for this year’s event due to travel restrictions. Norm Duke, as the 9th place finisher on the points list with 31,132.50, will move up to take his place in the field as the 8th seed.

Also qualifying for the 2020 PBA Tour Finals are 2019 PBA Players Championship winner Anthony Simonsen (47,085); 2020 PBA Players Championship winner Bill O’Neill (42,504); 2020 PBA Oklahoma Open champion Sean Rash (41,360); 2019 USBC Masters champion Jakob Butturff (38,175); 2020 PBA Tournament of Champions winner Kris Prather (37,280), and 2020 Jonesboro Open champion Kyle Troup (31,755).

CBS Sports Network will air back-to-back live two-hour shows on Saturday, July 18 followed by five consecutive hours of coverage culminating with the one-hour finale on Sunday, July 19. This will be the second-consecutive year that CBS Sports Network has carried the entire competition live over one weekend.

The PBA Tour Finals will incorporate the same format as the past two years, with the eight-player field divided into two four-player groups. The field will bowl four games of qualifying in their respective groups. The four-game pinfall totals for each player will be used to determine the seeding for a separate stepladder finals in each group. The final match of each group’s stepladder will be a Race to Two Points match with each game worth one point and, if the two games are split, the final point is awarded via a 9th and 10th frame roll off. The two group winners will then meet in another Race to Two Points championship match that will also use a 9th and 10th frame roll-off should there be a tie after two games.

The four total pinfall seeding rounds will air Saturday, July 18, at noon and 2 p.m. ET and will determine the order for the Group 1 stepladder matches at noon ET on Sunday, July 19, and the Group 2 stepladder at 2 p.m. ET. The winners of each group stepladder will the face off in the championship match Sunday, July 19, at 4 p.m. ET.

PBA TOUR FINALS
TV: CBS Sports Network
Where: Bowlero Jupiter, FL
When: Saturday, July 18
Noon (ET) – Group 1 total pinfall round (four games)
2 p.m. (ET) – Group 2 total pinfall round (four games)
Sunday, July 19
Noon (ET) – Group 1 Stepladder Finals
2 p.m. (ET) – Group 2 Stepladder Finals
4 p.m. (ET) – Championship Match

Qualifiers (Top 8 in PBA Tour points for 2019 and 2020 seasons combined, through March 15)

*Jason Belmonte, Australia 61,485.00 (unable to attend)
Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas 47,085.00
EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind. 44,950.00
Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa. 42,507.50
Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill. 41,360.00
Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz. 38,175.00
Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill. 37,280.00
Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C. 31,755.00
Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla. 31,132.50 (moves up to take 8th position with Belmonte unable to attend)