July 18, 2024 Nolan Hughes

As several players made massive strides up and down the leaderboard, a three-time PBA50 Tour major champion stretched his legs the most at Bowl America Bull Run in Manassas, Va.

John Janawicz rose from 12th place to first following two eight-game rounds of round-robin match play in the Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship.

Janawicz leads with a total pinfall of 8,168 (+1,368) through 34 games. He compiled a 10-4-2 record while raising his average to 230.53 on Thursday.

Liz Johnson, Mika Koivuniemi, Jon Rakoski and Brian LeClair round out the top five. Qualifying leader Michael Haggitt sits in 14th place.

On the fresh 38-foot Wayne Webb oil pattern, Janawicz fired 790 in his first three games of match play to begin his ascent. 

“I had a good look on the fresh the first day, and I kind of made the wrong move for transition. I had a little different gameplan for transition today and, yeah, that was obviously the better gameplan,” Janawicz said with a chuckle.

Janawicz said he stuck with urethane for the first eight games, then switched to reactive equipment on the burn. He ran into one hiccup in Game 2, a 189 and a loss, but still averaged nearly 235 for his afternoon round.

“I was trying to move in (during Game 2), and that was my own fault. I learned early in the week that you just have to find a way to stay as far to the right for as long as you can,” Janawicz said. “The ball I was using was starting to suck me in, and it just wasn’t the right look. I was probably a couple boards deeper than I should be based on the people that are scoring. I changed balls, backed my hand out a little bit to allow me to keep my angles a little more shut down. After that, I was fine.”

Janawicz turned 50 and joined the PBA last spring. He earned two major titles and PBA50 Rookie of the Year honors in 2023, then added a third major in the Senior U.S. Open earlier this season. He said the longer formats and generally lower scoring paces of majors play into the strengths of his game.

The 2024 PBA50 Tour’s third major and eighth title event concludes on Friday.

The final round of match play will begin at 9 a.m. Eastern with its final eight games determining the five players advancing to the championship round.

The stepladder finals will be held Friday evening at 7 p.m. ET on the private lanes inside Bill Moore’s home.

All rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

Match Play Round 2 Leaders

  1. John Janawicz, 8,168 (+1,368)
  2. Liz Johnson, 8,091 (+1,291)
  3. Mika Koivuniemi, 8,082 (+1,282)
  4. Jon Rakoski, 7,993 (+1,193)
  5. Brian LeClair, 7,963 (+1,163)
  6. Mitch Beasley, 7,919 (+1,119)
  7. Dennis Rakauskas, 7,918 (+1,118)
  8. Ron Hurt, 7,907 (+1,107)
  9. Danny Wiseman, 7,830 (+1,030)
  10. Michael Hartter, 7,824 (+1,024)

More information on the 2024 Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship, including complete standings, are available here.