Tom Hess Increases Lead at 2024 PBA50 Tournament of Champions
Fairlawn, Ohio – We have all heard the quote, “It’s not how you start, but how you finish.”
Tom Hess came into the Advancers Round Wednesday morning in first place. He put together an eight-game block of 1,687, averaging 210.88 to drop to third place as Chris Warren took over the lead.
After a lunch break and time in his hotel room, Hess returned to AMF Riviera Lanes feeling refreshed and with a new game plan for Round 1 of match play. He averaged 233 for eight games while posting a 6-2 record to retake the lead. He holds a 177-pin lead over Warren at the 2024 PBA50 Tournament of Champions.
“The transition was quite a bit different in the morning. I tried to get too far left too quick. I was in the wrong part of the lane,” he said. “I came in tonight with the plan to stay to the right. It was a great night. I saw the lane well.”
While looking at some of the equipment he had in his car, he decided to bring in a ball he had not used so far this week. He went with a Roto Grip Gem for his entire final block and never shot a game under 200. Looking ahead to the last day of match play this season on Thursday, Hess again plans to stay right for as long as he can.
“There is still a lot of bowling left. Nothing is decided,” he said. “The first three guys off the show are Mika (Koivuniemi), Brad (Angelo) and Chris (Barnes). None of those guys are out of it.”
Three of Hess’s remaining matches are against bowlers in the top five. He has a 208-pin lead over fifth place.
After the Advancers Round on Wednesday, the field was cut to the top 16 players. The final bowler in was Steven Badovinac at +241. In head-to-head match play, the winner of each match earned 30 bonus pins. Behind Hess and Warren is Dan Knowlton and Andrew Neuer. Randy Weiss, who is currently in fifth place, has the best overall record at 7-1. Jeff Johnson and Dino Castillo each rolled perfect games during match play.
The top 16 will bowl eight games of match play in Round 2 starting at noon Eastern Thursday. The top five will advance to the stepladder finals scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET. The winner collects a major title along with a check for $15,000.
Watch the final day of the 2024 PBA50 Tour season on BowlTV.
Top 16 PBA50 Tournament of Champions standings (with bonus pins):
- Tom Hess, 7,350 (+950)
- Chris Warren, 7,207 (+807)
- Dan Knowlton, 7,164 (+764)
- Andrew Neuer, 7,149 (+749)
- Randy Weiss, 7,142 (+742)
- Mika Koivuniemi, 7,052 (+652)
- Brad Angelo, 7,025 (+625)
- Chris Barnes, 7,013 (+613)
- Steven Badovinac, 6,997 (+597)
- Jon Rakoski, 6,985 (+585)
- Jeff Johnson, 6,983 (+583)
- Walter Ray Williams Jr., 6,972 (+572)
- Dino Castillo, 6,859 (+459)
- Bill Rowe, 6,803 (+403)
- Tom Adcock, 6,737 (+337)
- James Campbell, 6,525 (+125)