February 28, 2024 Nolan Hughes

Käyhkö off to promising start with six games before the cut in Delaware

Through 12 games of the PBA Delaware Classic, Tomas Käyhkö leads the 64-player field.

Käyhkö shot a 2,876 (+476) total pinfall for his two six-game rounds on Wednesday at Mid County Lanes & Entertainment in Middletown, Del.

Käyhkö, who had a breakout season in 2023 while finishing 19th in points, has yet to cash in a 2024 event.

“I’ve had problems with my physical game throughout the start of the year and my head's not been in the right place. I feel like I haven’t been able to get the ball out of my hand the right way,” Käyhkö said. “Today things clicked. I got the right balls and made the right moves early and struck a lot. Tomorrow I’m just going to go one shot at a time and see where it takes us. Hopefully I can keep it up tomorrow and cash for once.”

Andrew Anderson, Nate Stubler, Jason Sterner and David Krol round out the top five.

Since this tweet, Anderson has bowled 18 games between the second elimination round of the Just Bare PBA Indiana Classic and the first two rounds of the PBA Delaware Classic. He has averaged over 239 during that stretch.

“I'm in a really good place both mentally and physically right now,” Anderson said after the first round on Wednesday. “That's why I tweeted that out and felt comfortable tweeting that out. I wasn't saying that like it was a hopeful thing — I feel very close.

“When things are going poorly, it's so hard to gain confidence out here,” Anderson added. “Everybody around you is so good that pins are just hard to make up. At times, I forget what I'm capable of when I'm healthy and in a good state of mind.”

Anderson said he has one or two great blocks at each event, but hasn’t been able to string them together throughout a whole tournament. 

“Being a little more open minded has been my biggest issue so far,” Anderson said. “I feel like at times I get stuck in my ways. I’ve just got to be a little more open minded. If the lanes are asking for something different, I need to do something different.”

That’s exactly what Anderson did on Wednesday: After closing the first round with a 187, he ended the second round with 247.

After leading the pre-tournament qualifier, David “Boog” Krol has averaged more than 230 to sit in fifth place through 12 games.

“I drove 16 hours to be here. I didn't want to bowl seven games in the PTQ and go home,” Krol said. “Missing last week’s PTQ cut was awful. I hated being away from here, but it gave me time to reflect on the previous weeks and come out here wanting it even more now. I made sure every shot was dialed and just tried to stay as focused as possible. Now that I'm in the main field, I want all the points possible.

“I want people to know my name,” said Krol, who currently sits 17th in points. “The end-all goal is finishing top 43 in points and getting the exempt spot for next year. But on the priority list is 16 — I want to be the PTQ-player in the PBA Playoffs.”

With six games remaining before the cut to elimination match play, Tommy Jones (+328) sits in eighth place and in position to earn a one-round bye.

Zach Wilkins (+193) holds the final berth in the current top-24 cut.

The final round of qualifying will begin at 10 a.m. ET Thursday with match play beginning at 6 p.m.

All qualifying and match play rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

The PBA Delaware Classic finals will be held Sunday, March 3 at noon ET on FS1. Tickets are available here.

More information on the PBA Delaware Classic is available here.

Leaders After Round 2

  1. Tomas Käyhkö, 2,876 (+476)
  2. Andrew Anderson, 2,819 (+419)
  3. Nate Stubler, 2,803 (+403)
  4. Jason Sterner, 2,800 (+400)
  5. David Krol, 2,764 (+364)
  6. Chris Via, 2,749 (+349)
  7. EJ Tackett, 2,744 (+344)
  8. Tommy Jones, 2,728 (+328)
  9. Kyle Troup, 2,722 (+322)
  10. Nathan Bohr, 2,718 (+312)

Full standings are available here.

PBA Delaware Classic Schedule

Mid County Lanes & Entertainment | Middletown, Del.

All times Eastern

Thursday, Feb. 29
10 a.m. — Qualifying Round 3 (six games)
6 p.m. — Elimination Match Play, Round of 24 (best of seven games)

Friday, March 1
10 a.m. — Elimination Match Play, Round of 16 (best of seven games)
6 p.m. — Elimination Match Play, Round of 8 (best of seven games)

Sunday, March 3
Noon ET — PBA Delaware Classic finals on FS1
Tickets