April 7, 2025 Nolan Hughes

The first of the final two regular season events of the 2025 PBA Tour, both major championships, is set to begin with the PBA Players Championship at David Small's JAX 60 in Jackson, Mich.

The chase for the major title and $100,000 top prize gets underway with Monday’s practice session.

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

The two-part championship round includes a prelims round Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern time on FS1 and the finals Sunday at noon ET on FOX.

Storylines

Anthony Simonsen’s runner-up performance in the USBC Masters catapulted him into the PBA Playoffs cut for the first time since the U.S. Open in early February.

Jesper Svensson holds the 12th and final PBA Playoffs berth entering this week’s event, ranking just ahead of Kris Prather, Tomas Käyhkö, Tom Smallwood, Justin Knowles and Ryan Barnes.

Michigan natives Knowles and Smallwood performed well in Allen Park for the USBC Masters, so they’ll look to once again ride the home state momentum.

The top eight players in points over the past two seasons qualify for the PBA Tour Finals, which currently includes EJ Tackett, Simonsen, Jason Belmonte, Bill O’Neill, Kyle Troup, Andrew Anderson, Marshall Kent and Chris Via.

Graham Fach, Svensson, Boog Krol and Zach Wilkins are the first four players outside the cut.

With 7,500 at the top up for grabs in each of the next two major championships, the opportunity for a last-second postseason push is available.

In the PBA Elite League, Motiv continues to stave off Storm’s push for the top seed. Brunswick occupies the pivotal third spot, followed by 900 Global, Roto Grip and Hammer.

Players to Watch

Defending champion Bill O’Neill, who will be enshrined later this month in the PBA Hall of Fame, looks to add a third PBA Players Championship title to his name. A win would tie O’Neill with Jason Belmonte for the most titles in the major championship’s history.

Five first-time champions have been crowned so far this season. Three of them — Santtu Tahvanainen, Rasmus Edvall and USBC Masters champion Gary Haines will be in the field this week.

With five titles won by first-time champions, that means eight titles have been won by past champions — and half of those wins belong to EJ Tackett.

Tackett, who has already clinched the top spot in the points list for the season, could become the second player to win three major championships in a single season. Belmonte achieved the feat in 2017.

Tackett looks to net his second five-title campaign in the last three seasons, all but securing his third consecutive and fourth career PBA Player of the Year award (pending a vote by PBA members).

An eighth career major would also elevate Tackett into a tie with Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Mike Aulby for fourth all-time.

Tackett, with a win, would also move within a USBC Masters title of the Super Slam.

Format

All players will bowl 16 games of qualifying on the 37-foot Don Carter oil pattern, beginning on Tuesday. Squad listings and lane pairings can be found here.

The 171-player field will be trimmed in half following those 16 games of qualifying, then again after an eight-game advancer round on Thursday morning.

The top 16 players after Thursday evening’s casher round, also eight games, will qualify for round-robin match play.

Nine players will qualify for the two-part championship round of the PBA Players Championship.

The prelims round, a stepladder featuring the fifth through ninth qualifiers, will air live Saturday, April 12 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

The winner will meet the top four qualifiers in Sunday’s championship round, airing live on FOX at noon ET.

Tickets to watch the PBA Players Championship are $15 for a daily pass, $40 for a weekly pass (Tuesday through Friday) and $75 for both televised rounds. Contact David Small's JAX 60 for more information.

Tournament Schedule

David Small's JAX 60 | Jackson, Mich.

All times Eastern/local

Monday, April 7 | BowlTV
12 p.m. — A-squad practice session
3 p.m. — B-squad practice session
6 p.m. — Pro-Am

Tuesday, April 8 | BowlTV
10 a.m. — A-squad Qualifying Round 1 (eight games)
5 p.m. — B-squad Qualifying Round 1 (eight games)

Wednesday, April 9 | BowlTV
10 a.m. — B-squad Qualifying Round 2 (eight games)
5 p.m. — A-squad Qualifying Round 2 (eight games)

Top half of field advances

Thursday, April 10 | BowlTV
10 a.m. — Advancers Round (eight games)
Top half of field advances

6 p.m. — Cashers Round (eight games)
Top 16 players advance

Friday, April 11 | BowlTV
11 a.m. — Match Play Round 1 (eight games)
6 p.m. — Match Play Round 2 (eight games)

5th-9th qualifiers players advance to prelims; 1st-4th qualifiers advance to finals

Saturday, April 12 | FS1
7 p.m. — Prelims (stepladder finals)
Winner advances to finals

Sunday, April 13 | FOX
12 p.m. — Finals (stepladder finals)

More information on the PBA Players Championship is available here.