March 23, 2025 Nolan Hughes

The 2025 USBC Masters, the third major of the PBA Tour season, begins Monday at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich. All rounds of qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

The Masters is renowned for the event’s unique format, featuring almost 400 entrants, 15 games of qualifying and a 64-player, double-elimination match play bracket.

While the event has been dominated by elite stars like Jason Belmonte and Anthony Simonsen over the past decade, the format also opens a pathway for lesser heralded players to seize their moment.

DeeRonn Booker rose from relative obscurity to major champion with his undeniable run to the USBC Masters title a year ago.

He took down then-two-time defending champion Anthony Simonsen and eventual PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett (by shooting 279 and 300) as part of an undefeated romp through the match play bracket.

Booker defeated Patrick Dombrowski in the title match to become the third Black player to win a PBA Tour and major title.

As the defending champion, Booker has automatically qualified for match play. If he qualifies lower than 64th place, he will earn the No. 64 seed for the double-elimination bracket.

No player owns more Masters titles than the major king himself, Jason Belmonte. The Australian three-peated the event in 2013-15, then won his record fourth title in 2017.

The event has been dominated of late by Anthony Simonsen, who broke up Belmonte’s potential five-peat with a 2016 Masters title that made Simonsen the youngest-ever PBA major champion.

Simonsen won again in 2022, then went back-to-back with his 2023 win at Thunderbowl Lanes. He set the match play average record during his 2023 Masters title run.

Simonsen, by his own lofty standards, is having a down year in 2025. He ranks 25th in points and has made only one championship round. Nevertheless, “Simonsen” is the name no competitor wants to see in their portion of the bracket.

But the top player to watch in this week’s major championship is EJ Tackett, who is in the midst of perhaps the most dominant run in the history of the sport.

Tackett made all five championship rounds in last week’s PBA World Series of Bowling XVI, defending his PBA Shark Championship title, completing a historic three-peat of the PBA World Championship and setting a new PBA record with six straight finals appearances.

Tackett went on a similar heater last season, making five consecutive finals before coming up 25 pins shy of a sixth straight in the USBC Masters.

The Masters is one of two majors Tackett has yet to conquer; doing so would make him the fourth Grand Slam winner in PBA history, joining Mike Aulby, Norm Duke and Belmonte.

The shoe-in Hall of Famer moved into 10th all time with his 26th and 27th career titles last week. Here’s what a Masters title this week would mean for Tackett:

  • Extend record to seven straight championship round appearances
  • Clinch status as points leader for 2025 season
  • Secure 28th career PBA Tour title
  • Tie for 4th all time with eighth career major title (Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Mike Aulby)
  • Complete career Grand Slam (World Championship, U.S. Open, TOC, Masters)
  • Become second player to win three majors in a single season (Jason Belmonte, 2017)
  • Become second player to win three consecutive majors (Norm Duke, 2007-08)
  • Move within $90,000 of single-season earnings record (Kyle Troup, $496,900)

Qualifying begins on Monday with squads competing at 8 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Squad breakdowns and lane pairings are available here.

After the final squad on Wednesday night, the 64-player bracket will be set. Match play begins on Thursday and continues through Friday evening.

All rounds of qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

The two-part televised championship round will take place next weekend. Noon ET shows on Saturday (FS1) and Sunday (FOX) will feature eight finalists, crown the 2025 USBC Masters champion and award the $100,000 top prize.

The elimination bracket will continue in Saturday’s preliminary round and compete the field for Sunday’s four-player stepladder finals. The top seed, who will have gone 6-0 in bracket match play, will need to be defeated twice.

More information on the 2025 USBC Masters is available here.

USBC Masters Schedule

Thunderbowl Lanes | Allen Park, MI

All times Eastern

Monday, March 24
8 a.m. — A-squad Qualifying Round 1 (five games)
12:30 p.m. — B-squad Qualifying Round 1 (five games)
6:30pm — C-squad Qualifying Round 1 (five games)

Tuesday, March 25
8 a.m. — B-squad Qualifying Round 2 (five games)
12:30 p.m. — C-squad Qualifying Round 2 (five games)
6:30 p.m — A-squad Qualifying Round 2 (five games)

Wednesday, March 26
8 a.m. — C-squad Qualifying Round 3 (five games)
12:30pm — A-squad Qualifying Round 3 (five games)
6:30pm — B-squad Qualifying Round 3 (five games)

Top 64 players (or top 63 players and defending champion, DeeRonn Booker) advance to double-elimination match play

Thursday, March 27
10 a.m. — First round (left side of bracket)
12:30 p.m. — First round (right side of bracket)
2:30pm — All first round winners
5 p.m. — Match play continues

Friday, March 28
10 a.m. — Match play continues
2 p.m. — Match play continues

Saturday, March 39
12:00 p.m. (FS1) — Preliminary Round

Sunday, March 30
12:00 p.m. (FOX) — USBC Masters stepladder finals