Cooley continues hot start, leads after Day 2 of U.S. Open
January 31, 2024
Results after Round 2
INDIANAPOLIS – Sam Cooley of Australia used a strong Round 2 effort on Tuesday night to place his name atop the leaderboard after two rounds of qualifying at the 2024 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling!, which is being contested at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis.
After a rough 154 game to start his second round, Cooley fired scores of 203, 267, 243, 234, 233, 198 and 236 to end the day with an eight-game total of 1,768, which moved him into first place in the 108-player field with a two-day, 16 game total of 3,563 (a 222.69 average).
Cooley and Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, exchanged the lead twice during A Squad as Anderson had a good day of his own on Tuesday, coming in with an eight-game total of 1,707 to settle into second place overall with a two-day mark of 3,473.
Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, the leader through two rounds on A Squad, is third overall at 3,439 while B Squad frontrunner Matt Russo of Ballwin, Missouri, is fourth at 3,425.
Seventeen-year-old Landin Jordan of Sycamore, Illinois, had the highest block of the tournament so far on Tuesday night, firing an eight-game total of 1,884 (233, 236, 228, 226, 255, 230, 199 and 277) to move into fifth place with 3,414 going into Day 3.
Twin brother Griffin Jordan also is currently inside the cut line, occupying 30th place with a 3,278 total.
Matt Sanders of Evansville, Indiana (3,389), David Krol of Springfield, Missouri (3,371), Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington (3,370), Jake Peters of Henderson, Nevada (3,343) and Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida (3,342), currently sit in places sixth through 10, respectively.
Cooley’s opening game was not the start he was looking for after authoring a strong performance during Round 1 on Monday; nevertheless, the savvy veteran wasn’t about to panic.
“I just tried to tell myself to be patient after the first game because I wasn’t comfortable at all,” Cooley said. “I was trying to figure it out as we went and just had to keep everything as simple as possible as well as just staying patient.”
The patience proved to be what Cooley needed as his scores progressively went up as he got more comfortable with Round 2’s 45-foot oil pattern. Cooley wasn’t the only one shooting high scores, however, as many high-profile names jumped up the standings on Tuesday.
England’s Dominic Barrett and Australia’s Jason Belmonte both bounced back from tough Day 1 efforts to move into the top 36 with Barrett in 14th place and Belmonte in 16th.
All competitors return Wednesday for a final eight-game qualifying block with C Squad kicking things off at 8 a.m. Eastern, A Squad bowling at 1 p.m. Eastern and B Squad bringing qualifying to a close starting at 6 p.m. Eastern.
After qualifying ends, the field will be cut to the top 36 players who will bowl eight games Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern before a second cut is made to get the field down to 24 bowlers.
Those 24 players will bowl one eight-game block of round-robin matches Thursday night starting at 5 p.m. Eastern. Two additional eight-game rounds of matches will take place on Friday, one starting at 10 a.m. Eastern and the other at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Once three rounds and 24 games of round-robin matches have been completed, the top five players will advance to the stepladder finals, which will be contested live on FOX on Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. Eastern.
The winner of the 2024 U.S. Open will take home the $100,000 top prize, the coveted green jacket and the U.S. Open trophy.
Even though Cooley is currently in first place with a sizable lead, he is not thinking that far ahead; instead, he’s focusing on what’s right in front of him.
“It’s a good feeling to have a pretty big buffer, but at the same time, I’m going to try and keep everything like I have been, which is to stay focused on the present moment and not let anything mental get in my way,” Cooley said.
The 2024 U.S. Open is a collaborative effort between the United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and will be considered a major on the PBA Tour. The total prize fund for the event will exceed $275,000.
For results, standings and information about the 2024 U.S. Open, CLICK HERE
INDIANAPOLIS – Sam Cooley of Australia used a strong Round 2 effort on Tuesday night to place his name atop the leaderboard after two rounds of qualifying at the 2024 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling!, which is being contested at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis.
After a rough 154 game to start his second round, Cooley fired scores of 203, 267, 243, 234, 233, 198 and 236 to end the day with an eight-game total of 1,768, which moved him into first place in the 108-player field with a two-day, 16 game total of 3,563 (a 222.69 average).
Cooley and Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, exchanged the lead twice during A Squad as Anderson had a good day of his own on Tuesday, coming in with an eight-game total of 1,707 to settle into second place overall with a two-day mark of 3,473.
Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, the leader through two rounds on A Squad, is third overall at 3,439 while B Squad frontrunner Matt Russo of Ballwin, Missouri, is fourth at 3,425.
Seventeen-year-old Landin Jordan of Sycamore, Illinois, had the highest block of the tournament so far on Tuesday night, firing an eight-game total of 1,884 (233, 236, 228, 226, 255, 230, 199 and 277) to move into fifth place with 3,414 going into Day 3.
Twin brother Griffin Jordan also is currently inside the cut line, occupying 30th place with a 3,278 total.
Matt Sanders of Evansville, Indiana (3,389), David Krol of Springfield, Missouri (3,371), Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington (3,370), Jake Peters of Henderson, Nevada (3,343) and Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida (3,342), currently sit in places sixth through 10, respectively.
Cooley’s opening game was not the start he was looking for after authoring a strong performance during Round 1 on Monday; nevertheless, the savvy veteran wasn’t about to panic.
“I just tried to tell myself to be patient after the first game because I wasn’t comfortable at all,” Cooley said. “I was trying to figure it out as we went and just had to keep everything as simple as possible as well as just staying patient.”
The patience proved to be what Cooley needed as his scores progressively went up as he got more comfortable with Round 2’s 45-foot oil pattern. Cooley wasn’t the only one shooting high scores, however, as many high-profile names jumped up the standings on Tuesday.
England’s Dominic Barrett and Australia’s Jason Belmonte both bounced back from tough Day 1 efforts to move into the top 36 with Barrett in 14th place and Belmonte in 16th.
All competitors return Wednesday for a final eight-game qualifying block with C Squad kicking things off at 8 a.m. Eastern, A Squad bowling at 1 p.m. Eastern and B Squad bringing qualifying to a close starting at 6 p.m. Eastern.
After qualifying ends, the field will be cut to the top 36 players who will bowl eight games Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern before a second cut is made to get the field down to 24 bowlers.
Those 24 players will bowl one eight-game block of round-robin matches Thursday night starting at 5 p.m. Eastern. Two additional eight-game rounds of matches will take place on Friday, one starting at 10 a.m. Eastern and the other at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Once three rounds and 24 games of round-robin matches have been completed, the top five players will advance to the stepladder finals, which will be contested live on FOX on Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. Eastern.
The winner of the 2024 U.S. Open will take home the $100,000 top prize, the coveted green jacket and the U.S. Open trophy.
Even though Cooley is currently in first place with a sizable lead, he is not thinking that far ahead; instead, he’s focusing on what’s right in front of him.
“It’s a good feeling to have a pretty big buffer, but at the same time, I’m going to try and keep everything like I have been, which is to stay focused on the present moment and not let anything mental get in my way,” Cooley said.
The 2024 U.S. Open is a collaborative effort between the United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and will be considered a major on the PBA Tour. The total prize fund for the event will exceed $275,000.
For results, standings and information about the 2024 U.S. Open, CLICK HERE