Lavoie takes lead after second round at 2016 U.S. Open
November 05, 2016
STANDINGS: Round 1 | Round 2
LAS VEGAS – Canada’s Francois Lavoie rolled a perfect game on his way to taking the lead after the second round of qualifying at the 2016 U.S. Open on Saturday.
The 23-year-old right-hander connected on 12 consecutive strikes during his fourth game to post an eight-game block of 1,843 at the South Point Bowling Plaza, bringing his 16-game total to 3,631. Lavoie now has rolled the tournament’s first 300 game in each of the past two years.
Rhino Page of Orlando, Florida, is in second place with 3,607, and Sweden’s Pontus Andersson (3,604) and Martin Larsen (3,591) are third and fourth, respectively. Shawn Maldonado of Houston rounded out the top five with 3,583.
Colombia’s Andres Gomez, who also recorded a 300 game Saturday, is in ninth place with a 3,551 total.
Qualifying at the 2016 U.S. Open gives competitors the opportunity to navigate three different phases of the 42-foot oil pattern being used during the event – the fresh, burn and double-burn. The oil pattern only is applied before the day’s opening squad.
Lavoie bowled his first block on the burn squad Friday and competed on the fresh Saturday. He has averaged more than 226 on his way to the lead and will head back to the lanes Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern for the double-burn.
“I think it’s going to be tricky to hit the double-burn the last day,” said Lavoie, who was in 11th place after Friday’s opening round. “The first day, people tend to stay right a little longer and are a little more careful. By the last day of qualifying, they’ve figured out that as they move left, it gets a little easier and tends to open up a bit, so they tend to move left quicker. My game plan is to keep the ball in play and focus on one shot at a time. This is what I’ve been doing, and I hope it works for the double-burn.”
Defending champion Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, New York, is in 75th place with a 3,330 total.
The third qualifying round will begin Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern. Each round of the 2016 U.S. Open leading up to the stepladder finals will be broadcast live on Xtra Frame, the exclusive online bowling channel for the Professional Bowlers Association.
All competitors at the 2016 U.S. Open will bowl 24 qualifying games over three days, before the field is cut to the top 57 for eight additional games. The 32-game pinfall totals will determine the 24 players for round-robin match play.
The top five, determined by total pinfall and bonus pins for 56 games, will advance to the stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 9.
The 2016 U.S. Open features a prize fund of more than $210,000, which includes $100,000 in added money. The 2016 champion will earn $30,000 and the coveted green jacket.
LAS VEGAS – Canada’s Francois Lavoie rolled a perfect game on his way to taking the lead after the second round of qualifying at the 2016 U.S. Open on Saturday.
The 23-year-old right-hander connected on 12 consecutive strikes during his fourth game to post an eight-game block of 1,843 at the South Point Bowling Plaza, bringing his 16-game total to 3,631. Lavoie now has rolled the tournament’s first 300 game in each of the past two years.
Rhino Page of Orlando, Florida, is in second place with 3,607, and Sweden’s Pontus Andersson (3,604) and Martin Larsen (3,591) are third and fourth, respectively. Shawn Maldonado of Houston rounded out the top five with 3,583.
Colombia’s Andres Gomez, who also recorded a 300 game Saturday, is in ninth place with a 3,551 total.
Qualifying at the 2016 U.S. Open gives competitors the opportunity to navigate three different phases of the 42-foot oil pattern being used during the event – the fresh, burn and double-burn. The oil pattern only is applied before the day’s opening squad.
Lavoie bowled his first block on the burn squad Friday and competed on the fresh Saturday. He has averaged more than 226 on his way to the lead and will head back to the lanes Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern for the double-burn.
“I think it’s going to be tricky to hit the double-burn the last day,” said Lavoie, who was in 11th place after Friday’s opening round. “The first day, people tend to stay right a little longer and are a little more careful. By the last day of qualifying, they’ve figured out that as they move left, it gets a little easier and tends to open up a bit, so they tend to move left quicker. My game plan is to keep the ball in play and focus on one shot at a time. This is what I’ve been doing, and I hope it works for the double-burn.”
Defending champion Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, New York, is in 75th place with a 3,330 total.
The third qualifying round will begin Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern. Each round of the 2016 U.S. Open leading up to the stepladder finals will be broadcast live on Xtra Frame, the exclusive online bowling channel for the Professional Bowlers Association.
All competitors at the 2016 U.S. Open will bowl 24 qualifying games over three days, before the field is cut to the top 57 for eight additional games. The 32-game pinfall totals will determine the 24 players for round-robin match play.
The top five, determined by total pinfall and bonus pins for 56 games, will advance to the stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 9.
The 2016 U.S. Open features a prize fund of more than $210,000, which includes $100,000 in added money. The 2016 champion will earn $30,000 and the coveted green jacket.