Walking through Helsingborg’s old town on the way to Olympia Bowling, the talk
between the guys at BowlingLife was simple: with two days left in qualifying,
someone would surely crack 1,400.
The long, demanding pattern has pushed players deeper inside and rewarded
disciplined moves through transition, keeping scores in check. With fewer
squads left and everything on the line, we expected the numbers to rise.
For
most of the week, the story belonged to Ethan Fiore. The young major champion
grabbed the lead in Squad 14 with 1,379 and then bettered himself a few squads
later with 1,393. It started to feel like the only bowler likely to top Fiore
was.. Ethan Fiore himself.
But everything changed in Friday’s Squad 22.
29-year-old Trevor
Roberts, a late addition from the waiting list, slipped into the final spot
and went to work without big expectations. He rolled games of 236, 289, 214,
237, 223, and 245 for 1,444, vaulting past Fiore’s best by 51 pins and setting
the new tournament pace.
It was an amazing performance on a
pattern that has punished even small mistakes. Roberts learned that the hard
way days earlier.
Roberts had bowled three squads earlier in the
week, barely topping 1,150. But, the reads from those blocks, plus watching
other PBA players, paid off.
"I just noticed it you can't really send it too far right, because it's out of
bounds. The minute you grab it it wants to hook early, so the goal was to be
really soft with the hand," Roberts said after the squad.
It wasn’t
just the soft hand. While many chased the transition left or started lofting,
Roberts moved only a couple of boards the entire block - using a single ball.
Even he couldn’t fully explain why the look held so well.
“I
only had to move six, seven boards the whole day, the breaks went my way, i
used the same ball - [Brunswick] Mesmerize with polish on it. I don't know
why, but it just went my way.”
With 1,444, Roberts is now well
positioned for a bye into Final Step 2, even if he doesn’t finish as the
overall qualifying leader.
"Now i can take tomorrow off, do
laudry," Roberts laughed.
We didn’t ask which detergent he uses,
but he’d better nail the settings. He’ll need that jersey unshrunk for
Sunday’s Final Step rounds. If things break right, maybe a fresh one for the
title match.
A total of 40 players will qualify through the general standings, with another 15 spots earned via separate categories: Early Bird, Seniors, U21, Women, and High Game. As of now, Sweden’s Alexander Holm sits 40th on the general list with 1,200 over six games.
After qualification, the field is cut to 55. The top 25 advance directly to
Final Step 2. The remaining 30 bowl a six-game scratch block in Final Step 1
to decide the 15 who move on. In Final Step 2, 40 players bowl six games
scratch to determine the top 16. Those 16 then bowl one three-game
total-pinfall match in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals to decide the
four semifinalists, and single-game matches in the semifinals and final will
determine the champion and the PBA Tour title winner.
This year’s
Storm Lucky Larsen Masters has drawn more than 360 bowlers from 25 countries
and features a prize fund exceeding $136,000. It remains the only opportunity
outside the United States to win a PBA Tour title.
