Weber earns top qualifier honors at USBC Masters

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Pete Weber of St. Ann, Missouri, continued to pace the field at the 2015 United States Bowling Congress Masters as he earned top qualifier honors Thursday.

Weber finished qualifying with a 15-game total of 3,574 (238.27 average) at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley to lead the field of 64 players who advanced into the double-elimination match-play bracket. The Masters, which features a total prize fund of $253,000, will conclude with the live ESPN finals on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Weber ended qualifying tied with Canada's Patrick Girard, who bowled a big third round that included a 300 game. However, Weber earned top qualifier honors and the top seed in the bracket by having the highest five-game qualifying block during the week.

After opening the tournament with a five-game total of 1,308, Weber shot 1,170 in the second round and 1,096 in Thursday's final round of qualifying.

"The lanes were a little different today bowling on the burn," Weber said. "I still shot almost 100 over today, and I'm happy with that. My mindset now is just to keep up what I've been doing and throw the best shots that I can."

Weber, who has 37 career Professional Bowlers Association titles including 10 majors, would win the PBA's Grand Slam with a victory this week. The Grand Slam is made up of the four majors on the PBA Tour - the USBC Masters, PBA Tournament of Champions, U.S. Open and the PBA National/World Championship.

Chad Roberts of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, qualified in third position with 3,545, while John Szczerbinski of North Tonawanda, New York, and Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, tied for fourth with 3,509.

The final spot in the 64-player bracket went to Christopher Sand of Sterling Heights, Michigan, who defeated Aaron Groendyk of Wyoming, Michigan, 246-179, in a one-game roll-off after they ended qualifying tied in 64th place at 3,213.

Bracket play will take place all day Friday and continue Saturday when the final five surviving players will advance to Sunday's live championship round on ESPN.

The Masters, which features a first-place prize of $50,000, is a major event on the PBA Tour and is part of the World Tenpin Bowling Association World Bowling Tour.
    
All rounds of the Masters are being covered live on Xtra Frame, the PBA's online bowling channel. For subscription information, visit pba.com.

For more information on the Masters, including live scoring, visit BOWL.com/Masters.