Machuga moves atop leaderboard at 2026 USBC Senior Masters
June 04, 2026
Michael Machuga of Erie, Pennsylvania, moved into the overall lead at the 2026 USBC Senior Masters in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The 50-year-old right-hander put up a five-game mark of 1,234 during Round 2 to move his two-day, 10-game total to 2,486, which is the second-highest score through two rounds in tournament history.
FULL RESULTS
LAS VEGAS – Michael Machuga of Erie, Pennsylvania, didn’t feel like he had his best stuff when he stepped onto the lanes at Sam’s Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas on Wednesday for Round 2 of qualifying at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters.
If that was truly the case, the 302 other players remaining in this year’s field ought to be very concerned because despite feeling a bit off, Machuga still averaged better than 246 for the round and ended the day with his name atop the leaderboard thanks to a two-day, 10-game total of 2,486 (a 248.6 average).
The 50-year-old right-hander reached that position by following up the 1,252 he authored during Round 1 on Tuesday with a mark of 1,234 on Wednesday, which included games of 217, 256, 258, 246 and 257.
Not only did that effort earn Machuga first place in this year’s current overall standings with one qualifying round to go, but it also moved him into the Senior Masters record book with the second-highest 10-game mark in tournament history – Parker Bohn III of Jackson, New Jersey, holds the record with 2,539, which he recorded during last year’s tournament at Sam’s Town.
Andy Neuer of Milton, Pennsylvania, who shot both 300 and 299 en route to the Day 1 lead on Tuesday, came in just behind Machuga with 2,471 at day’s end on Wednesday, which was good enough for second place in the current standings and third on the Senior Masters all-time scoring list.
The three remaining spots in the top five currently are occupied by Bohn (2,449), Brian Hoffman of San Antonio (2,429) and Michael Hartter of Henderson, Nevada (2,415).
Hoffman put up best the round of the day, posting a five-game total of 1,279 during Round 2 thanks to scores of 223, 269, 280, 300 and 207.
Chris Warren of Plano, Texas, and Chris Barnes of Denton, Texas, came in with 1,276 and 1,265, respectively, on Wednesday to make sizable leaps in the standings with Warren moving from 68th place at the start of the day to sixth by day’s end and Barnes vaulting from 78th to eighth – Barnes’ set included an 802 series for Games 1-3 (266, 267, 269).
Warren also joined Barnes and Hoffman in recording honor scores at Sam’s Town on Wednesday as Warren rolled a perfect game during Game 2 of B Squad’s second round.
Defending Senior Masters champion Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida, made his own run at perfection during Round 2, starting with 10 strikes in a row during Game 4 of A Squad before an 8-pin ended his bid for 300.
The big score was valuable, nonetheless, as it moved Daugherty back inside the cut line. He stayed there by following the 289 up with 256 during Game 5 to end Day 2 with a 10-game mark of 2,348, which was good enough for 15th place – Daugherty was 91st at the start of competition on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the position in the standings that all competitors will be watching on Day 3 will be 64th because that represents the final advancing position to match play at the 2026 Senior Masters.
With one final five-game qualifying round to go before cuts are made at the end of the day on Thursday, Richard Benard of Roanoke, Texas, holds the final spot, occupying 64th place with a two-day total of 2,254 (a 225.4 average).
Should Benard still hold that position at the end of Round 3, he would be the final player advancing to match play at this year’s tournament and earn seed No. 64.
If Daugherty were to fall back outside the cut line at day’s end on Thursday, the top 63 players would advance, and Daugherty would get the 64th and final spot in the bracket guaranteed to the reigning champion.
Machuga, meanwhile, sits just five games away from securing the top seed for match play, which surprised him a bit considering how his physical game felt at the start of Round 2.
“I really didn’t feel very good to start today’s block; I kind of felt clunky and just off,” Machuga said. “Even though I shot in the 250s during Game 2, I pretty much grinded through the first two games without anything feeling particularly good. Thankfully, I kind of steadily got sharper through the block.”
Machuga expects the trend to continue during Round 3 of qualifying on Thursday when he gets his first opportunity to compete on the fresh version of the 45-foot 2026 Senior Masters oil pattern.
“I really like the draw I got this week by going double-burn, burn and fresh,” Machuga said. “That should allow me to just keep steadily going to the right, which I’m looking forward to because I thought coming in that the fresh would be my best squad relative to the rest of the scores on the fresh.”
But Machuga won’t necessarily be going all out for score during his final five games of qualifying; instead, he plans on gathering some information he hopes will benefit him down the road during match play.
“I’m probably going to be doing a little bit of conservative experimenting with a couple different ball choices and surfaces tomorrow just to see what shapes I can create,” Machuga said. “As much fun as it always is to try and lead a tournament, I’ll definitely be giving some other balls in the arsenal a chance.”
All Senior Masters competitors will bowl one more five-game qualifying block on Thursday. Then, the top 64 will advance to the double-elimination match-play portion of this year’s tournament.
Bracket matches will be contested in a three-game total-pinfall format on Friday and Saturday until the field is cut to the top five for the live stepladder finals, which will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on BowlTV.
Since the stepladder will be broadcast on BowlTV, the top seed will have to be defeated twice in the tournament’s true double-elimination format. The winner of the 2026 USBC Senior Masters will take home a major championship on the PBA50 schedule and the first-place prize of $20,000.
CLICK HERE for scores and information about the 2026 USBC Senior Masters.
FULL RESULTS
LAS VEGAS – Michael Machuga of Erie, Pennsylvania, didn’t feel like he had his best stuff when he stepped onto the lanes at Sam’s Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas on Wednesday for Round 2 of qualifying at the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters.
If that was truly the case, the 302 other players remaining in this year’s field ought to be very concerned because despite feeling a bit off, Machuga still averaged better than 246 for the round and ended the day with his name atop the leaderboard thanks to a two-day, 10-game total of 2,486 (a 248.6 average).
The 50-year-old right-hander reached that position by following up the 1,252 he authored during Round 1 on Tuesday with a mark of 1,234 on Wednesday, which included games of 217, 256, 258, 246 and 257.
Not only did that effort earn Machuga first place in this year’s current overall standings with one qualifying round to go, but it also moved him into the Senior Masters record book with the second-highest 10-game mark in tournament history – Parker Bohn III of Jackson, New Jersey, holds the record with 2,539, which he recorded during last year’s tournament at Sam’s Town.
Andy Neuer of Milton, Pennsylvania, who shot both 300 and 299 en route to the Day 1 lead on Tuesday, came in just behind Machuga with 2,471 at day’s end on Wednesday, which was good enough for second place in the current standings and third on the Senior Masters all-time scoring list.
The three remaining spots in the top five currently are occupied by Bohn (2,449), Brian Hoffman of San Antonio (2,429) and Michael Hartter of Henderson, Nevada (2,415).
Hoffman put up best the round of the day, posting a five-game total of 1,279 during Round 2 thanks to scores of 223, 269, 280, 300 and 207.
Chris Warren of Plano, Texas, and Chris Barnes of Denton, Texas, came in with 1,276 and 1,265, respectively, on Wednesday to make sizable leaps in the standings with Warren moving from 68th place at the start of the day to sixth by day’s end and Barnes vaulting from 78th to eighth – Barnes’ set included an 802 series for Games 1-3 (266, 267, 269).
Warren also joined Barnes and Hoffman in recording honor scores at Sam’s Town on Wednesday as Warren rolled a perfect game during Game 2 of B Squad’s second round.
Defending Senior Masters champion Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida, made his own run at perfection during Round 2, starting with 10 strikes in a row during Game 4 of A Squad before an 8-pin ended his bid for 300.
The big score was valuable, nonetheless, as it moved Daugherty back inside the cut line. He stayed there by following the 289 up with 256 during Game 5 to end Day 2 with a 10-game mark of 2,348, which was good enough for 15th place – Daugherty was 91st at the start of competition on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the position in the standings that all competitors will be watching on Day 3 will be 64th because that represents the final advancing position to match play at the 2026 Senior Masters.
With one final five-game qualifying round to go before cuts are made at the end of the day on Thursday, Richard Benard of Roanoke, Texas, holds the final spot, occupying 64th place with a two-day total of 2,254 (a 225.4 average).
Should Benard still hold that position at the end of Round 3, he would be the final player advancing to match play at this year’s tournament and earn seed No. 64.
If Daugherty were to fall back outside the cut line at day’s end on Thursday, the top 63 players would advance, and Daugherty would get the 64th and final spot in the bracket guaranteed to the reigning champion.
Machuga, meanwhile, sits just five games away from securing the top seed for match play, which surprised him a bit considering how his physical game felt at the start of Round 2.
“I really didn’t feel very good to start today’s block; I kind of felt clunky and just off,” Machuga said. “Even though I shot in the 250s during Game 2, I pretty much grinded through the first two games without anything feeling particularly good. Thankfully, I kind of steadily got sharper through the block.”
Machuga expects the trend to continue during Round 3 of qualifying on Thursday when he gets his first opportunity to compete on the fresh version of the 45-foot 2026 Senior Masters oil pattern.
“I really like the draw I got this week by going double-burn, burn and fresh,” Machuga said. “That should allow me to just keep steadily going to the right, which I’m looking forward to because I thought coming in that the fresh would be my best squad relative to the rest of the scores on the fresh.”
But Machuga won’t necessarily be going all out for score during his final five games of qualifying; instead, he plans on gathering some information he hopes will benefit him down the road during match play.
“I’m probably going to be doing a little bit of conservative experimenting with a couple different ball choices and surfaces tomorrow just to see what shapes I can create,” Machuga said. “As much fun as it always is to try and lead a tournament, I’ll definitely be giving some other balls in the arsenal a chance.”
All Senior Masters competitors will bowl one more five-game qualifying block on Thursday. Then, the top 64 will advance to the double-elimination match-play portion of this year’s tournament.
Bracket matches will be contested in a three-game total-pinfall format on Friday and Saturday until the field is cut to the top five for the live stepladder finals, which will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on BowlTV.
Since the stepladder will be broadcast on BowlTV, the top seed will have to be defeated twice in the tournament’s true double-elimination format. The winner of the 2026 USBC Senior Masters will take home a major championship on the PBA50 schedule and the first-place prize of $20,000.
CLICK HERE for scores and information about the 2026 USBC Senior Masters.