FULL STANDINGS

LAS VEGAS – Sam Cooley of Australia averaged over 259 during Round 2 of qualifying at the 2024 USBC Masters on Tuesday to take over the lead with a two-day, 10-game total of 2,435 (a 243.5 average).

Cooley shot games of 269, 268, 256, 249 and 256 at Suncoast Bowling Center on Tuesday for a five-game total of 1,298, which was only 21 pins off the five-game scoring record set by Parker Bohn III in 1998.

Day 1 leader Markus Jansson of Sweden is second overall with a 2,377 total while Giorgio Clinaz of Brigham City, Utah, settled into third place at 2,366. Phoenix’s Tyler Cortez Schenck and Sweden’s Robin Persson round out the top five with 2,355 and 2,346, respectively.

France’s Maxime Dubois (2,341), Chase Nadeau of Grand Junction, Colorado (2,325), and Finland’s Jarno Lahti (2,307) occupy spots six through eight while Zac and EJ Tackett finish out the top 10 with 2,306 and 2,305, respectively.

Cooley finished tenth at this year’s U.S. Open in Indianapolis, but he feels the Masters is a slightly different beast in comparison.

“All the blocks are fresh there while there is one burn block here in qualifying, so it definitely tests skills that some guys have,” Cooley said. “I like to think I’m part of that category."

“The Masters is also a different mindset and different minefield,” Cooley said while noting the difference in the match play portion of both events - the U.S. Open is a grind of 24 games of qualifying and another 24 games of round-robin match play while the Masters’ match-play format is a double-elimination bracket.

Nonetheless, Cooley’s focus remains squarely on what’s directly in front of him, one more qualifying block Wednesday morning.

“It would definitely be something special to win; I think the majors are what really separates the top players from the majority, but it’s just too early to say right now, especially with matches later,” said Cooley.

Schenck has had two great blocks so far, starting Monday on the burn squad with a five-game total of 1,193 and continuing his great bowling Tuesday morning with a block total of 1,162.

“The burn is never my favorite because you never know what it could play like, but luckily I put together a good block,” Schenck said. “I watched a lot of guys on fresh later to get a general idea of what to do and told myself to stay aggressive.”

Schenck goes into the final round of qualifying with a good buffer over a majority of the field as the final match-play spot currently belongs to Japan’s Fujimura Takashi with an overall total of 2,178.

All competitors will return to Suncoast Bowling Center on Wednesday for the final round of qualifying. After 15 games, which includes two blocks on the fresh lane condition and one squad on the burn, the top 63 players will join defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas in the double-elimination bracket beginning Thursday.

Simonsen is guaranteed a spot in the bracket as the defending champion, but he can improve his seeding through qualifying. If he happens to finish qualifying outside of the top 63, he'll be the No. 64 seed.

Simonsen ended Round 2 of Qualifying in 34th place with a block total of 1,174 and an overall total of 2,223.

The stepladder finals of the 2024 event will be March 31 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on FOX, with the champion taking home a spot in the tournament’s storied history, a major title on the PBA Tour and the $100,000 top prize. All competition leading up to the televised finals will be streamed live only on BowlTV.

The 2024 USBC Masters will see a return to the traditional five-player stepladder for the live television finals on FOX, with the final two competitors remaining in the winners bracket bowling one another for the top seed. The final four players in the elimination bracket will bowl for the remaining three spots on the TV show. The No. 1 seed will only have to be beaten once in the title match.

For more information on the USBC Masters, visit BOWL.com/Masters.