2022 U.S. Open Begins Today
Indianapolis—The 2022 Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour season continues today with the opening rounds of qualifying from Royal Pin Woodland. Qualifying and match play are being streamed live on BowlTV and simulcast on FloBowling through Saturday, February 5. The stepladder finals air live Sunday, February 6 at 5 p.m. ET on Fox Sports’ FS1.
Here are some of the storylines coming out of the PBA Players Championship and heading into the 2022 U.S. Open:
Defending Champion’s Recent Major Success
Chris Via finished in the top five in five of the last eight majors in which he’s competed after finishing 10th in the Players Championship East Region. His many appearances on major telecasts finally led to his first PBA Tour title in the 2021 U.S. Open and Via will attempt to become the first player to successfully defend the U.S. Open championship since Dave Husted in 1996.
Belmonte is Back
In his first PBA competition in 10 months, Belmonte qualified fourth in the PBA Players Championship West Region and won four matches to reach the finals. Two pins back of Sean Rash in the seeding round put Belmonte into the No. 2 spot on the stepladder, from which he defeated Arturo Quintero and then Rash to win the PBA Players Championship.
Proclaiming, “I’m back” following his winning shot, Belmonte extended his PBA record to 14 major titles and appears to be brimming with confidence. The U.S. Open is the only one of the five majors Belmonte hasn’t won at least three times, with his lone U.S. Open win coming in 2020. Belmonte will be looking to make the 2022 U.S. Open his 15th major championship.
Momentum for Players Championship Finalists
Each of the other Players Championship finalists, who are at the tops of their games right now, have also had some level of U.S. Open success. Tommy Jones won the 2006 U.S. Open. Sean Rash was the top seed and finished second in 2019. Graham Fach was fourth in 2017 and Arturo Quintero’s previous best career finish in a major was eighth in the 2016 U.S. Open (he bested that with his third-place performance in the Players Championship).
Lavoie Chases Third U.S. Open Title
François Lavoie won his first U.S. Open title in 2016 and his second in 2019. If he’s planning to win the event every third year, he’s due to win again in 2022. A win for Lavoie would be his fourth major and third U.S. Open title, tying him with Husted and trailing only Pete Weber (5), Dick Weber (4) and Don Carter (4) in all-time U.S. Open titles.
Tackett Seeks the Triple Crown
There are four players who could complete the Triple Crown this year (and it’s actually possible three could do it in the same season). Only seven players in PBA history have won each of the three original majors—the U.S. Open, PBA World Championship and PBA Tournament of Champions—but EJ Tackett is a U.S. Open victory away from becoming the eighth. Tackett won the 2016 PBA World Championship and 2017 PBA Tournament of Champions and is coming off a fourth-place finish in the PBA Players Championship Midwest Region.
The other players who can complete the Triple Crown this year are Dom Barrett, who needs to win the Tournament of Champions, and Lavoie and Tommy Jones, both of whom need to win the World Championship.
U.S. Open Winners Since 2011
2011 – Norm Duke
2012 – Pete Weber
2013 – Wes Malott
2014 – not held
2015 – Ryan Ciminelli
2016 – François Lavoie
2017 – Rhino Page
2018 – Dom Barrett
2019 – François Lavoie
2020 – Jason Belmonte
2021 – Chris Via
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.