January 31, 2025 Nolan Hughes

Andrew Anderson finished the first round of the 2025 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling in second place, and has maintained a lead ever since.

During the second of three match play rounds on Friday night, Anderson said he was tired of being close to the field, distancing himself from the field for the first time all week. 

With a total pinfall of 9,291 (+1,291), Anderson holds a 264-pin lead with eight games of match play to go in the season’s first major championship.

“I’m more process oriented than I’ve possibly ever been,” Anderson said. “You have a choice out here: You can be results oriented, where if you throw a good shot and you get nine, you’re pissed about it. Or you can be process oriented and you can say ‘I threw a good shot, let’s learn from it.’ So far I’m learning very quickly.”

Anderson has staved off a host of former U.S. Open champions hot on his heels thus far. With eight games remaining on Saturday morning, he is focused on securing the top seed for the extended stepladder finals.

“I want to bowl for the title,” Anderson said. “The easiest way to do that is to be the No. 1 seed. My goal tomorrow morning is to do what I can to hold off EJ (Tackett) and the boys. There’s more for me to have, and therefore I’m going to try and go get it.”

Anthony Simonsen, Chris Via and EJ Tackett, who rose from 22nd place to fourth on Friday, round out the top four, which would secure them a berth in Sunday’s championship round.

Though Via has yet to return to the winner’s circle since winning the 2021 U.S. Open, he has been performing like that version of himself this week. While few on tour can match Via’s strength and power, he noted that there have been many avenues to success this week.

“Looking through the top 24, I think it’s really cool that there’s no particular style,” Via said. “There’s a little bit of everything: lefties and righties, one-handers and two-handers, guys that hook it and guys that play straight, an 18-year-old and a 52-year-old. No one was shut out. When everyone’s got a chance, it’s nice to be able to bowl well and perform.”

Currently in fifth through ninth and in position to compete in Saturday afternoon’s preliminary stepladder finals are Tom Daugherty, Jake Peters, Jakob Butturff, Graham Fach and François Lavoie.

Daugherty, who finished seventh, 14th and 14th in the past three U.S. Open events, has climbed up the standings each round of match play. He qualified for match play in 23rd place, before rising to 13th and sixth on Friday.

“I like where I'm at,” Daugherty said. “I started from the bottom, and I've worked my way up. With a big block tomorrow, maybe I can get in there. I'm throwing it well, and you have to in the U.S. Open. You can't really fake your way through it like some weeks you can.”

Daugherty said he felt more comfortable once he started opening up his angles and being more aggressive. He also credited the help of Shawn Maldonado for his performance on Friday.

“(Shawn) said he’s playing chess out there, and I'm just his pieces,” Daugherty said. “He's moving me all over and putting different balls in my hands that I wouldn't have, and he's been right 90% of the time. If we can keep that up tomorrow, I think we’ll be alright.”

Michael Martell, Cam Crowe, Landin Jordan, Jason Belmonte and Kris Prather are each within 100 pins of Lavoie.

Eight games of round robin match play remain before the extended stepladder finals begin on Saturday afternoon, livestreaming on BowlTV.

The final round of match play will begin at 9 a.m. Eastern, followed by the preliminary stepladder featuring the fifth through ninth qualifiers at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

The winner will meet the top four qualifiers in Sunday’s championship round at 4 p.m. ET live on FOX.

Full standings are available here.

More information on the U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling is available here.

Tournament Schedule

Royal Pin Woodland | Indianapolis, IN

All times Eastern

Saturday, Feb. 1
9 a.m. — Match Play Round 3 (eight games)
4 p.m. — Preliminary Stepladder finals (seeds No. 5-9, winner advances to championship round)
Live on FS1

Sunday, Feb. 2
4 p.m. — Championship Round
Live on FOX