Competition set to begin at 2023 USBC Masters
March 26, 2023
RESULTS
ALLEN PARK, Michigan – The 2023 USBC Masters will get underway Monday at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, with a sold-out field of 390 athletes hitting the lanes beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern.
Qualifying will feature 15 games over three days with all competitors bowling two five-game blocks on the fresh 2023 USBC Masters lane condition and one squad on the burn. The top 63 players, based on total pinfall, will join defending champion Anthony Simonsen in the double-elimination bracket beginning Thursday at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Simonsen, of Las Vegas, captured the 2022 Masters title by defeating USBC and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida, 219-216 during the live TV finals on FOX.
Not only did the victory allow Simonsen to walk away with the $100,000 first-place check, but it also allowed him to continue rewriting the bowling record book by becoming the youngest player – at 25 years and 87 days old – to claim his fourth major championship.
Also, it was Simonsen’s second win at the Masters – his first came in 2016 – making him one of just nine players to have won the tournament twice.
Simonsen will look to author another strong performance this year, and if how he has bowled so far during the 2023 PBA Tour season is any indication of what is to come this week in Allen Park, then it would be foolish to bet against him.
Through the first seven events this season, Simonsen has one title – the PBA Wichita Classic back in February – and five top-five finishes and has placed no worse than 10th in any tournament he’s bowled.
Due to that consistency, Simonsen currently sits second in PBA Tour points (18,800) and average (223.56) and third in earnings ($104,500).
The only player off to a better start than Simonsen so far this season is E.J. Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, who currently leads the PBA Tour in points (25,150), average (225.83) and earnings ($215,100).
Tackett has three wins already this season, none of them bigger than the victory he secured at the season-opening 2023 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling!
That win gave Tackett his third major title and the career triple crown as he has now won the U.S. Open, PBA World Championship and PBA Tournament of Champions.
A win at this week’s USBC Masters would give Tackett his fourth major championship and put him into truly elite company as one of just four players to achieve the grand slam.
One of the bowlers who has already accomplished that feat is Jason Belmonte of Australia, who also is in the field at the 2023 Masters.
Belmonte is the PBA’s all-time leader in major victories with 15, the most recent of which came one week ago at the 2023 PBA Tournament of Champions in Fairlawn, Ohio.
The Australian superstar has had more than his fair share of success at the USBC Masters as well having won the event four times already (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017). He is the only player to have won four Masters titles.
Belmonte will have to navigate a slightly different path if he hopes to secure Masters title No. 5 as the format for this year’s event has been slightly modified from that of years past.
Qualifying and match play will remain consistent with previous editions of the event prior to the introduction of TV on March 31. The double-elimination bracket will be retained, and all matches leading up to the final eight competitors will feature three-game total-pinfall contests.
However, once the Elimination Bracket is down to the final eight, television matches will start with four single-game matches replacing the final three-game head-to-head round and four-player shootout to determine the finalists for the stepladder. These matches will be broadcast live on FS1.
These TV matches will implement a knockout-style format with the winners of the first two games advancing to the finals of the Elimination Bracket. The advancers then will take on players who lost in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket with each winner earning a spot in the opening match of the stepladder on April 2.
The two players who emerge victorious from the semifinals of the Winners Bracket will earn automatic spots on the April 2 broadcast with a three-game total-pinfall match determining the top seed. This match will be broadcast at BowlTV.com.
With only four players advancing to the stepladder, the top seed will need to be defeated twice on FOX to be denied the title.
The stepladder at the 2023 event will be April 2 at 1 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.
For more information on the USBC Masters, visit BOWL.com/Masters.
ALLEN PARK, Michigan – The 2023 USBC Masters will get underway Monday at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, with a sold-out field of 390 athletes hitting the lanes beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern.
Qualifying will feature 15 games over three days with all competitors bowling two five-game blocks on the fresh 2023 USBC Masters lane condition and one squad on the burn. The top 63 players, based on total pinfall, will join defending champion Anthony Simonsen in the double-elimination bracket beginning Thursday at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Simonsen, of Las Vegas, captured the 2022 Masters title by defeating USBC and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida, 219-216 during the live TV finals on FOX.
Not only did the victory allow Simonsen to walk away with the $100,000 first-place check, but it also allowed him to continue rewriting the bowling record book by becoming the youngest player – at 25 years and 87 days old – to claim his fourth major championship.
Also, it was Simonsen’s second win at the Masters – his first came in 2016 – making him one of just nine players to have won the tournament twice.
Simonsen will look to author another strong performance this year, and if how he has bowled so far during the 2023 PBA Tour season is any indication of what is to come this week in Allen Park, then it would be foolish to bet against him.
Through the first seven events this season, Simonsen has one title – the PBA Wichita Classic back in February – and five top-five finishes and has placed no worse than 10th in any tournament he’s bowled.
Due to that consistency, Simonsen currently sits second in PBA Tour points (18,800) and average (223.56) and third in earnings ($104,500).
The only player off to a better start than Simonsen so far this season is E.J. Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, who currently leads the PBA Tour in points (25,150), average (225.83) and earnings ($215,100).
Tackett has three wins already this season, none of them bigger than the victory he secured at the season-opening 2023 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling!
That win gave Tackett his third major title and the career triple crown as he has now won the U.S. Open, PBA World Championship and PBA Tournament of Champions.
A win at this week’s USBC Masters would give Tackett his fourth major championship and put him into truly elite company as one of just four players to achieve the grand slam.
One of the bowlers who has already accomplished that feat is Jason Belmonte of Australia, who also is in the field at the 2023 Masters.
Belmonte is the PBA’s all-time leader in major victories with 15, the most recent of which came one week ago at the 2023 PBA Tournament of Champions in Fairlawn, Ohio.
The Australian superstar has had more than his fair share of success at the USBC Masters as well having won the event four times already (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017). He is the only player to have won four Masters titles.
Belmonte will have to navigate a slightly different path if he hopes to secure Masters title No. 5 as the format for this year’s event has been slightly modified from that of years past.
Qualifying and match play will remain consistent with previous editions of the event prior to the introduction of TV on March 31. The double-elimination bracket will be retained, and all matches leading up to the final eight competitors will feature three-game total-pinfall contests.
However, once the Elimination Bracket is down to the final eight, television matches will start with four single-game matches replacing the final three-game head-to-head round and four-player shootout to determine the finalists for the stepladder. These matches will be broadcast live on FS1.
These TV matches will implement a knockout-style format with the winners of the first two games advancing to the finals of the Elimination Bracket. The advancers then will take on players who lost in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket with each winner earning a spot in the opening match of the stepladder on April 2.
The two players who emerge victorious from the semifinals of the Winners Bracket will earn automatic spots on the April 2 broadcast with a three-game total-pinfall match determining the top seed. This match will be broadcast at BowlTV.com.
With only four players advancing to the stepladder, the top seed will need to be defeated twice on FOX to be denied the title.
The stepladder at the 2023 event will be April 2 at 1 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.
For more information on the USBC Masters, visit BOWL.com/Masters.