May 1, 2024 Nolan Hughes

Two-time defending champion Troup, top seed Tackett headline field for PBA Playoffs

It took until the bitter end, but the fields for the two postseason events have settled.

The PBA Playoffs features the top 16 players in competition points from this season, while the Tour Finals includes the top eight players from the past two seasons.

EJ Tackett secured the top seed and earned himself, along with the other top-four seeds, a bye to the semifinals. Kyle Troup, who won the event in 2021 and 2022, placed sixth in points and will compete in Sunday’s quarterfinals.

While Tackett and Troup have been locked into the Playoffs for months, the final berths in this season’s postseason events weren’t settled until Sunday afternoon during the PBA Tournament of Champions finals.

Andrew Anderson (15th in 2024 points), AJ Johnson (16th in 2024 points) and Jakob Butturff (8th in 2023-24 points) watched the regular season finale with bated breath, as their postseason hopes rested in the hands of finalists Jason Sterner and Matt Ogle.

Sterner, who entered the TOC 24th in points, rose to 17th by making the TOC show. With a win in the opening match over Marshall Kent, and securing fourth-place points, Sterner would have jumped into the PBA Playoffs.

Anderson, though too nervous to watch, clinched a Playoffs berth with Sterner’s loss to Kent.

Johnson continued as Kent’s hype man for the eventual champion’s next match against Ogle. Ogle needed to win two matches to usurp Johnson for the Playoffs and Butturff for the Tour Finals.

Johnson and Butturff's live reactions as Kent fired the front-six against Ogle would’ve been great content… their reactions after Kent’s gutter in the seventh would’ve been tremendous content.

Kent went on to defeat Ogle, sending Johnson to Washington and Butturff to Pennsylvania.

Johnson and Anderson, teammates of the league-best Las Vegas High Rollers, will meet in the opening match of the Playoffs, airing Saturday, May 4 at 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

The complete TV schedule is here.

PBA Playoffs

The sweet 16 of the PBA Tour are en route to Angel of the Winds Casino Resort in Arlington, Wash.

A play-in stepladder for the 12th through 16th qualifiers will determine the final player for the 12-player bracket, while the top four players in points have earned a bye to the semifinals.

The four players who emerge victorious in Arlington will head to AMF Kissimmee Lanes later in May for the finals.

Every game of the PBA Playoffs will be televised. All matches prior to the championship will be a single game.

Tickets are available for all shows in Washington and Florida.

First-Round Byes: EJ Tackett, Marshall Kent, Anthony Simonsen, Bill O’Neill

These four stars won’t be seen until the third and final show from Angel of the Winds on Sunday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. They each sit one match victory from advancing to the final four.

Here’s one way to summarize Tackett’s dominance this season: he could have not bowled the TOC and still led the tour in points this season. He did bowl, finished third with a shoulder injury, and earned 3,450 more points to bring his total to 29,920.

Kent’s climb of the TOC stepladder elevated him from sixth in points to second. He passed Jason Belmonte for fourth place by making the title match, but needed the win over Simonsen to pass Simonsen himself and O’Neill, who won the season-opening Players Championship and the 2020 PBA Playoffs.

Simonsen ranking third in points without winning a major — though he finished second twice — is a testament to the two-hander’s excellence this season.

It is at the moment of writing the previous sentence that this writer realized Simonsen is the lone two-hander in the top four. Traditionalists of the Facebook comment section, rejoice.

No. 5 Jason Belmonte vs. No. 12 TBD

While Belmonte put himself in the hunt every week, he couldn’t come away with a title — but don’t let that lack of a title (so far) fool you: His 226.68 average in 421 games trails only Tackett’s record-setting pace of 230.04 and his average finish of 14.2 trails only Tackett’s 8.9.

Belmonte will face the winner of the play-in stepladder, which will air Saturday, May 4 at 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1. More on those players below.

The winner advances to face O’Neill.

No. 6 Kyle Troup vs. No. 11 Chris Via

Troup captured two titles, including the U.S. Open green jacket that eluded his family for 40 years, but struggled to find enough consistency to net a top-four points finish. Expect the two-time defending PBA Playoffs champ and defending Tour Finals champ to lock in like 2023 Jimmy Butler this postseason.

Via never finished better than fifth, which he accomplished in the season-opening Players Championship, but only lower than 50th once. He needed a strong TOC performance to crack the Playoff field and did so with another top-10 major finish.

The winner of this two-handed slugfest advances to face Simonsen.

No. 7 Matt Russo vs. No. 10 Jesper Svensson

Few players, if any, boast more experience under the lights in recent weeks than these two southpaws. Russo and Svensson grinded all season and when their opportunity arose at the World Series of Bowling XV, they seized every bit of it.

Svensson, according to definitely-not-made-up sources, will attempt to shoot 189 by leaving the 7-pin on every single shot.

The winner of the battle of the season’s top-two lefties advances to face Kent.

No. 8 Zach Wilkins vs. No. 9 David Krol

“Boog” Krol’s path to the playoffs is simply one of the most impressive feats of the season.

Krol began the season by having to earn a spot in the main field via the pre-tournament qualifier each and every week. He traveled the country at the risk of bowling seven games and being sent home.

Krol advanced through four of the season’s first five PTQs, finishing 15th in the Players Championship, sixth in the U.S. Open (no PTQ), 54th in the Illinois Classic and 24th in his hometown Pete Weber Missouri Classic.

The Delaware Classic would be Krol’s last PTQ for the foreseeable future as the 28-year-old captured his first career PBA Tour title.

Wilkins, who finished 50th in 2023 points and narrowly avoided the PTQs, had a similar breakout season as he tied Tackett for the most top-25 finishes this season (12). In fact, Wilkins’ 25th place finish in the Delaware Classic was the best-worst performance of any player this season.

The two-handed Canadian cashed in 11 of his 12 events. The four pins by which Wilkins missed the final Shark Championship cash spot not only cost him $2,000 and an impressive feat, but cost this writer an extra qualifying sentence every time they discuss Wilkins’ stellar season.

The winner between the breakout stars receives a date with Tackett. Welcome to the big leagues.

Play-In Stepladder: Tom Smallwood, Packy Hanrahan, Graham Fach, Andrew Anderson, AJ Johnson

After leading the season-opening major, Smallwood struggled throughout the rest of the season. He notched just one more top-10 finish — sixth in the Roth/Holman Doubles Championship with Jason Sterner — and needed a strong performance in the Tournament of Champions to stay in the Playoffs.

Hanrahan and Fach’s consistency and stellar World Series of Bowling XV propelled them into the playoffs.

Anderson’s Roth/Holman Doubles Championship title capped off his strong midseason push for the Playoffs.

Johnson earned consecutive top-five finishes in Illinois and Missouri before four straight top-30 finishes. His top-20 finishes to close the WSOB proved to be the difference maker as he edged Sterner by 138 points.

Jake Peters, Tom Daugherty, Justin Knowles, Kris Prather, Dom Barrett and Ogle were the top players to miss the Playoffs cut. The full standings are available here.

PBA Playoffs Schedule

Round 1: Play-in Stepladder | May 4 at 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1

  1. Tom Smallwood
  2. Packy Hanrahan
  3. Graham Fach
  4. Andrew Anderson
  5. AJ Johnson

Round 2: Round of 12 | May 5 at noon ET on FS1

No. 8 Zach Wilkins vs. No. 9 David Krol
No. 5 Jason Belmonte vs. Round 1 advancer
No. 7 Matt Russo vs. No. 10 Jesper Svensson
No. 6 Kyle Troup vs. No. 11 Chris Via

Round 3: Quarterfinals | May 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1

No. 1 EJ Tackett vs. Wilkins/Krol
No. 4 Bill O’Neill vs. Belmonte/Round 1 advancer
No. 2 Marshall Kent vs. Russo/Svensson
No. 3 Anthony Simonsen vs. Troup/Via

Finals | May 19 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX

PBA Tour Finals

Following the Playoffs, the top eight players in points across the past two seasons will compete in June's PBA Tour Finals.

As expected, the field for the Tour Finals features several familiar faces. Seven, in fact, as Jakob Butturff is the lone Tour Finals qualifier who did not make the PBA Playoffs.

  1. EJ Tackett, 71,110 points
  2. Anthony Simonsen, 58,295
  3. Jason Belmonte, 41,995
  4. Bill O’Neill, 34,850
  5. Marshall Kent, 34,617.5
  6. Kyle Troup, 32,172.5
  7. Jakob Butturff, 26,595
  8. Packy Hanrahan, 26,585

Notice the gap between Butturff and Hanrahan. Had Ogle won two matches in the TOC stepladder, Hanrahan would have missed the playoffs by 10 points. After a two-season, 27-tournament sample size, Hanrahan almost missed the Tour Finals by the difference of one place at any one tournament.

Of course, “almost” only counts in whichever horseshoes tournament Walter Ray Williams Jr. is competing in next.

The Tour Finals will take place June 8-9 at Steel City Bowl & Brews in Bethlehem, Pa.

More information on the PBA Tour Finals is available here.