Chris Barnes could hardly have asked for a better way to finish the 2026 PBA50 Tour season.
Barnes won the Johnny Petraglia BVL PBA50 Tournament of Champions on Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia. This victory also secured his first PBA50 Player of the Year award.
It was Barnes’ first Player of the Year honor in 18 years. He last earned the award in 2008 competing on the PBA Tour.
The POY was still wide open entering the stepladder finals, as points leader Tom Hess, Mika Koivuniemi and Tom Daugherty all could have taken the award by winning the Tournament of Champions after making the stepladder.
Luckily for spectators, that put even more weight on every match of the finals.
Barnes entered the stepladder finals as the No. 3 seed after dropping from first place during the final position round of match play.
He opened his run against Tom Daugherty. The match remained close through seven frames before Barnes moved ahead late and won 217-208.
In the semifinal, Barnes faced Finland's Mika Koivuniemi and took control with eight consecutive strikes on his way to a 269-236 victory.
That set up the title match against top seed Troy Lint.
The match began nearly perfectly for both bowlers, but it changed late when Lint's mistake in the 10th frame allowed Barnes to close out a 236-213 victory and claim the title and $15,000.
“Once Troy (Lint) bowled the tenth frame and I knew I had won Player of the Year, it hit all at once that it was probably more important to me than I had wanted to believe. It has been a long time since I had been Player of the Year on the kid’s tour,” Barnes said. “To end the season on a win, which I don’t think I have ever done, and Player of the Year is about as good as it gets.”
The win marked Barnes’ 10th career title on the PBA50 Tour, moving him into a tie with Amleto Monacelli. The PBA50 Tournament of Champions also brought the 2026 PBA50 Tour season to a close.
On the PBA Tour side, only one event remains on the schedule - the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters, which will take place in Sweden from August 21-31.
Meanwhile, the PBA has already begun preparing for next season. Earlier this week, PBA CEO Peter Murray announced the new PBA ELITE Regional Tour as part of a major restructuring of the regional program.
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