GARLAND, Texas - As a young bowler, John Szczerbinski of North Tonawanda, New York, spent part of his weekends watching the elite bowlers of the day do battle on TV, hoping someday to be the one throwing the clutch strike under the bright lights.

This week, the 27-year-old right-hander is the one putting on a show as he continues to pace the field at the 2015 Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open. He led the top 24 bowlers into the round-robin match-play portion of the event, which began Friday evening.

Despite a slow start Friday, Szczerbinski was able to fend off charges by a trio of greats - Professional Bowlers Association and United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famers Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida, Pete Weber of St. Ann, Missouri, and Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Florida - to increase his lead over the talented after 32 games.

Szczerbinski finished the fourth round of qualifying at AMF Garland Lanes with a 257 game and 32-game total of 7,273, a 227.28 average. Duke was 130 pins back with a 7,143 total, followed by Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, New York, the lone left-hander in the top 24 (7,135). Weber was fourth with 7,118 and Williams was fifth with 7,052.

The final spot in the top 24 went to Team USA member Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington, with a 6,884 total, a 215.13 average.

"It's an honor right now to be able to bowl with these guys, let alone be at the top of standings with them," said Szczerbinski, who finished 21st at the U.S. Open in 2011. "I grew up watching them perform, and the desire to step up like them in the heat of the moment is what drives me to give it my all."

For a bowling-fan-turned-PBA Tour-competitor, there sometimes is a transition period where being a little starstruck isn't uncommon, but as Szczerbinski has built relationships with his fellow competitors and continued to find success on the lanes, he has become more comfortable.

And, although he still is searching his first PBA Tour title (his best finish was second at the 2014 Kingdom of Bahrain International Open), Szczerbinski quickly is becoming one of the players today's young bowlers look up to, as he can be found signing autographs and taking pictures after each round of competition at AMF Garland Lanes.

"It means a lot to be looked up to," said Szczerbinski, a member of the New York City WTT KingPins team, owned by tennis legend Billie Jean King, which won inaugural PBA League Elias Cup in 2013. "I try to be the best role model I can, show respect to my elders and the guys who I grew up watching and stay humble, because that's the type of person my parents raised me to be."

With the start of match play, Szczerbinski knows the players he looked up to now are looking up to him - in the standings - and they'll be gunning for him over the next 24 games.

"With the longer formats, the better players are going to be there, and it's kind of a coincidence that we have a few senior players that are doing pretty well," said Williams, the 1998 and 2003 U.S. Open champion. "We still have a lot of games left, so I just have to keep bowling well. It seems like a horse race at times, but it's a long marathon."

The 24 remaining players will bowl eight games Friday night and return for 16 games Saturday. The top five will advance to Sunday's stepladder finals based on their 56-game totals.

All competitors at the 2015 U.S. Open completed 24 qualifying games over three days, before the field was cut to the top 92. The 32-game pinfall totals determined the 24 players for match play.

All qualifying and match-play rounds are being broadcast live on the PBA's online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

The televised finals are scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on the CBS Sports Network, and the winner will take home a top prize of $50,000.

Bowlmor AMF, the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, committed to hosting and providing television sponsorship of more than $250,000 for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open, which USBC Hall Famer Liz Johnson won at Brunswick Zone Carolier in North Brunswick, New Jersey, in September.

Cain is able - Past USBC President Andrew Cain of Phoenix was instrumental in helping bring back the U.S. Open, and he was on the lanes for its return this week at AMF Garland Lanes.

The USBC and Bowling Proprietors' Association of America worked together to secure the future of the event after agreeing to a three-year partnership starting in 2015.

"It's great to see it come back," said Cain, who recently completed his third and final term in USBC's top position. "Our sport deserves an event of this magnitude. It's a showpiece for our industry, players and sport. It's also great to have the opportunity to bowl in it again."

Although Cain did not advance to Friday's fourth round of qualifying, the former Junior Team USA and Team USA member has a busy bowling schedule as 2015 winds down.

He competed at The South Point Bowling Plaza PBA Fall Classic in Las Vegas prior to the U.S. Open, and he will be traveling to Qatar for the PBA International-World Bowling Tour Qatar Open before heading to the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in Reno, Nevada, in early December.

Family affair - Three members of the Tackett family - Eric, EJ and Zac - laced up together at the U.S. Open for the first time this week.

EJ, the 2012-13 PBA Rookie of the Year, is Zac's older brother, and Eric is their cousin.

Bowling has been a common theme for the Huntington, Indiana, trio since they were old enough to roll a ball down the lane.

"We all started before we were 3," said Eric, who was the highest finisher of the family this week, finishing in a tie for 103rd place. "EJ and Zac's dad was a big-time bowler, our grandparents bowled, my parents bowled and it's all we've ever known. I even remember bowling with little plastic pins in our grandparent's hallway."

Eric, 25, and EJ, 23, have been traveling together to events for several years, and Zac, 19, joined them on the national stage for the first time.

"It's one of those rare things when you have three people in your family that can compete out here," said EJ, who captured his first PBA Tour title earlier this year at the Lubbock Sports Southwest Open. "Eric and I have bowled a lot of tournaments together over the past few years, and now that my brother is joining us, it's been a really cool experience to share together."

Ready or not - The staff at AMF Garland Lanes has been hard at work for months making sure the 58-lane center was ready for this week's Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open.

Already-planned and ongoing renovations to the center included new paint, furniture, tables and carpet, all ready in time for the event, but Bowlmor AMF went above and beyond to make sure the lanes were ready, too.

Bowlmor AMF worked with USBC and Lane Analytics to complete a comprehensive topography evaluation, where each board of every lane was inspected and leveled every three feet in 18 locations per lane.

As a result, 99 percent of the crowns and depressions plus cross-tilts are within twenty-thousandths of an inch of flat. This dramatically exceeds USBC's minimum standard of forty-thousandths of an inch using three inspection locations per lane.

"I think we had a good plan going in, and on the Bowlmor side, there has been a lot of hard work going on for months, which I definitely think has paid off," said AMF Garland Lanes General Manager Bart Boniol. "The league members and some of our regular bowlers have been here and taken notice throughout the process, and I couldn't be happier with the facility team, staff and volunteers for this event."