Tom Daugherty Wins First Major Title in Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship
Tampa, Fla.—No. 1 seed Tom Daugherty rolled a 263 game in the title match to win the Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship for his third career PBA Tour title and first major. In the highest scoring match of the stepladder finals, Daugherty and third seed Jakob Butturff combined to roll 18 strikes, 10 of which belonged to Daugherty on the way to a six-pin margin of victory.
“To shoot 260 to win a major is just awesome,” said Daugherty, whose most recent title came in the 2016 PBA Wolf Open. “I felt a little snake bitten on TV. I knew I needed to keep getting there to give myself more opportunities. Finally, I broke through with one.”
The first to finish the match, Daugherty needed two strikes and four pins in the 10th frame to shut out Butturff and clinch victory. His first strike was exactly what he wanted to do. The next one, he admits, required luck as he rolled the 2 pin to strike and, after a nine count on the fill ball, ultimately win.
“You always want to shut your guy out,” said Daugherty. “Getting the first one was key and I threw the best shot I possibly could. I aced it. I lost control of the second one. I realized it was the moment that would make me a major champion and everything started to speed up. It was my worst shot of the match, but I had the right ball in the right part of the lane and I got lucky.”
Daugherty’s second strike in the 10th frame was his ninth consecutive strike of the match. Butturff bowled a clean game and rolled the back seven strikes in an effort to win his second major, but fell six pins short.
World Series of Bowling XII action is not over for Daugherty, who will team with BJ Moore to bowl for the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship title tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET on Fox Sports’ FS1.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Daugherty will compete in match play for the PBA Chameleon Championship and PBA Scorpion Championship, giving him two more opportunities to win at the World Series in his native Tampa.
“I get to bowl in my hometown in one of my favorite centers,” said Daugherty. “I’m going to try to make the most of it.”
Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship Final Standings
AMF University Lanes – Tampa, Fla.
- Tom Daugherty, earns $100,000
- Jakob Butturff, $50,000
- EJ Tackett, $35,000
- Chris Via, $25,000
- Kyle Troup, $20,000
Match Scores
Match 1 – No. 4 Via def. No. 5 Troup, 210-201
Match 2 – No. 3 Butturff def. No. 4 Via, 249-227
Match 3 – No. 3 Butturff def. No. 2 Tackett, 210-178
Match 4 – No. 1 Daugherty def. No. 3 Butturff, 263-257
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.