Jesper Svensson Seizes Top Seed for Nine-Player TOC Finals
Nine players have advanced to the two-part stepladder finals and remain in title contention for the PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila.
Jesper Svensson led the 24-player match play field at historic AMF Riviera Lanes, the revered Fairlawn, Ohio which has hosted the TOC 36 times dating back to 1966.
Graham Fach, EJ Tackett and Kevin McCune round out the top four, each securing berths in Sunday’s championship round, airing live on FOX at 3 p.m. Eastern time.
Keven Williams, Jakob Butturff, AJ Johnson, Matt Sanders and Packy Hanrahan will compete in Saturday’s prelims round to determine the fifth finalist. The prelims round, a stepladder featuring the fifth through ninth qualifiers, will air live Saturday, April 19 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
Tickets to watch the prelims and championship rounds are available to purchase here.
Svensson, who became the youngest player to win the TOC in 2016, started Thursday's final round of match play in second place behind Tackett. He sprinted off to a 6-0 start, averaging more than 248 while adding 180 bonus pins to build an insurmountable lead.
“It's a great feeling. It's been a long time since I felt this competitive,” Svensson said. “You have your good and bad weeks and whatever, but it's different to have a good week and to feel like you're in the race to win the tournament. I felt that this whole week, and it's been fantastic. I’ve got one more game of work to do. I’m going to try to perform one more time, and then have a great evening.”
“I had a really good start to my career as a whole,” Svensson continued. “I felt like when I came out, I didn't care about anything. I just fired away. Sometimes back then, I got the feeling of ‘Oh, this is my stuff,’ but it’s been a long time since I felt that. It was almost like a throwback to get that feeling again. Throughout the years, it hasn’t been that bad, but I guess I have really high expectations for myself. It takes a toll on you when you don’t achieve that for a long time. You have people back back home to support you through it all, and you kind of feel like you let them down. Now I have a daughter. There are so many more aspects of (life). It's not just bowling anymore. I'm just really happy to be back where I am right now, and I think this is just what I needed.”
Canada’s Graham Fach went 8-0 on Thursday evening to surpass Tackett for the second seed. He won the PBA Players Championship in 2016, and the PBA Delaware Classic in the season-opener this year.
“This is definitely a big high,” Fach said. “There's a lot of nostalgia and history in this place. When you bowl a major with this field, to be in the position I'm in, I'm very grateful. Since I was a kid, like all of us, I've seen the events that they put on here. I've seen the past champions, and to even just be considered right now to be one of them is a highlight.”
Tackett, the front-runner for a fourth career and third consecutive PBA Player of the Year honor, will be looking to create a career highlight of his own on Sunday afternoon. A win would mark his third major title of the season, a feat achieved only by Jason Belmonte in 2017.
“It would be one of those things that gets etched in history alongside someone that's arguably the greatest that has ever played the game,” Tackett said. "But I have to execute, win some matches, and then win the championship. At the end of the day, like I say every single time, if you can win, everything else takes care of itself.”
McCune found a spectacular way to celebrate his 26th birthday. He struck on nine of his final 10 shots, including the last six, to usurp Keven Williams and Jakob Butturff for the coveted fourth seed and automatic berth in the championship round.
This marks McCune’s second straight major championship round appearance after finishing fifth in last week’s PBA Players Championship.
“It's definitely a breakout year for me,” McCune said. “It's been my best year on tour so far, by far, even over the year I won. This year, I've just felt a lot better. I’m seeing the lane better and it's been one heck of a ride.”
While Williams dropped down to the fifth seed, he will only need to win one match as the top seed in the prelims round to advance to Sunday’s finals. This also marks his best performance of the season, surpassing a 16th place finish in the season opener.
“Having as bad a year as I did, it was hard working through the mental and the physical (sides of the game),” Williams said. “I could never really piece the two together. I've never been in the position where I'm at mentally. I'm usually as confident as anyone, but I don't quite have the confidence right now. I've had to battle through that and it shows on my spare game. I gave away 200 pins in spares.
“With all that being said, we have a chance and we can get it done. I still like my chances because I've made a lot of good shots this week and I typically bowl really well on TV. Hopefully we can just piece it together and get it done.”
Williams will face the advancer of Butturff, AJ Johnson, Matt Sanders and Packy Hanrahan. The latter of whom also earned the final seed in the multi-part stepladder of the 2023 TOC, which featured a 17-player final field.
"The fans here are really good, so interacting with them keeps me nice and loose during match play," Hanrahan said. "The last block was super ugly, but I found a good last two games to stay in. Anything can happen, especially being the first guy on the show. You pop in there, maybe you get a good look and you stay hot for a couple games, beat a bunch of guys and end up on the second show. Right now, the goal is to try and win the first stepladder and see what happens.”
Shawn Maldonado was the first player outside the cut, finishing 128 pins behind Hanrahan. Mika Koivuniemi, who turned 58 earlier this month, finished in 11th, followed by two-handed Darren Tang, Anthony Simonsen and BJ Moore.
Four-time TOC champion Jason Belmonte finished in 23rd place.
Tickets to watch the prelims and championship rounds are available to purchase here.
Final Match Play Standings | 42 Games
- Jesper Svensson, +1,934
- Graham Fach, +1,803
- EJ Tackett, +1,676
- Kevin McCune, +1,561
- Keven Williams, 1,536
- Jakob Butturff, +1,488
- AJ Johnson, +1,453
- Matt Sanders, +1,447
- Packy Hanrahan, +1,432
- Shawn Maldonado, +1,304
- Mika Koivuniemi, +1,282
- Darren Tang, 1,269
- Anthony Simonsen, 1,223
- BJ Moore, 1,195
- François Lavoie, 1,176
- Stu Williams, 1,168
- Tom Daugherty, 1,150
- Tom Smallwood, 1,056
- Matt Zweig, 1,024
- Boog Krol, +996
- Bailey Mavrick, 988
- Dom Barrett, +987
- Jason Belmonte, +954
- Ethan Fiore, +701
Prelims Round Matches
Match One: No. 8 Matt Sanders vs. No. 9 Packy Hanrahan
Match Two: winner vs. No. 7 AJ Johnson
Match Three: winner vs. No. 6 Jakob Butturff
Championship: winner vs. No. 5 Keven Williams
Championship Round Matches
Match One: Prelims Round advancer vs. No. 4 Kevin McCune
Match Two: winner vs. No. 3 EJ Tackett
Match Three: winner vs. No. 2 Graham Fach
Championship: winner vs. No. 1 Jesper Svensson
Tournament Schedule
AMF Riviera Lanes | Fairlawn, Ohio
All times Eastern/local
Friday, April 18 | BowlTV
5 p.m. — PBA Hall of Fame - Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony
Saturday, April 19 | FS1
5 p.m. — Prelims Round (stepladder finals)
Winner advances to finals
Sunday, April 20 | FOX
3 p.m. — Championship Round (stepladder finals)
More information on the PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila is available here.