EJ Tackett Wins Historic Third Consecutive 2025 PBA World Championship

In a battle between the top two bowlers on the planet, EJ Tackett prevailed over Jason Belmonte to win a historic third consecutive PBA World Championship title.

Tackett defeated Belmonte, 242-222, to win the PBA World Championship, the major title finale of the PBA World Series of Bowling (XVI), and the $100,000 top prize.

Only Belmonte (twice), Jason Couch and Earl Anthony (twice) had ever won a PBA major championship three consecutive times before Tackett.

“I watched Jason (Belmonte) do it a few years ago, win three in a row,” Tackett said. “I watched the other Jason (Couch) win three TOCs in a row. I never thought it was feasible to do it. I thought those guys were just so much better than everyone else that no one else could do it. I'm just in shock and disbelief. I always believe in myself, but to actually do it, is crazy.”

Tackett made every championship round during the PBA WSOB XVI, becoming the first player to achieve that feat since Sean Rash in 2011.

He also made the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic presented by Pilgrim’s finals, setting the official PBA record with six consecutive championship round appearances.

Dating back to the PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic, Tackett has made seven consecutive championship rounds in singles events.

His PBA World Championship victory marked his fourth title of the 2025 season. No other player has more than one. 

Tackett, who owns almost twice as many points and three times as many earnings as the next highest player, is on pace to earn his fourth career and third consecutive PBA Player of the Year honor.

In Saturday's PBA World Championship stepladder finals, BJ Moore defeated Boog Krol in the opening match, a battle between tour roommates. Moore fired the front-six strikes while Krol struggled to string strikes, leaving four single-pins.

Moore’s strong ball reaction ran out in the second match against Tim Foy Jr., who was making his fifth championship round appearance of his breakout season. Foy stayed clean until the 10th frame to shoot 234 and advance to the semifinal match against Tackett.

Foy possessed control of the match against Tackett until the eighth frame, in which he split and opened on the right lane. He left a 10-pin in the ninth frame as well, setting Tackett up with a chance to strike for the win.

Tackett said he liked the shot he threw, but the ball crossed over the head-pin — and still struck. The fortunate break enabled the Tackett-Belmonte duel that had been building for nearly a month in Reno.

“I got extremely lucky in the 10th frame,” Tackett said before the title match. “Tim threw two unbelievable shots in the 10th frame. He deserves to be standing here right now.”

Tackett refocused and seized control of the title match by throwing four strikes to start the match. After a split in the fifth frame, he struck three more times to set up his final frames.

Belmonte, seeking to extend his PBA record with a 16th career major title, struck twice, made two spares, and struck again to start the game. Then, on the same lane Tackett went high and split, Belmonte left a 2-10 split and created a 30-pin advantage for Tackett.

Belmonte struck in each of his next three frames, forcing Tackett to double in the 10th frame for the win — the exact stakes of their 2023 PBA World Championship title bout.

Tackett, just as he did two years ago, aced two strikes to win the match.

“In my opinion, (those) were two of the best shots of my whole career,” Tackett said.

The 2025 PBA Tour continues next week with the USBC Masters at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.

Tackett, who also won the U.S. Open earlier this season, will aim for a third consecutive major title. The Masters would complete the career Grand Slam, a feat achieved by only Mike Aulby, Belmonte and Norm Duke.

Qualifying begins on Monday, leading up to the double-elimination bracket on Thursday and Friday. All rounds of qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV, followed by the two-part, televised championship round on March 29-30.

The full upcoming PBA television schedule is available here.

Championship Round Scores

Match One: No. 5 BJ Moore def No. 4 Boog Krol, 258-203
Match Two: No. 3 Tim Foy Jr. def. No. 5 BJ Moore, 234-182
Match Three: No. 2 EJ Tackett def. No. 3 Tim Foy Jr., 237-224
Championship: No. 2 EJ Tackett def. No. 1 Jason Belmonte, 242-222

Final Standings

1. EJ Tackett, $100,000
2. Jason Belmonte, $60,000
3. Tim Foy Jr., $40,000
4. BJ Moore, $30,000
5. Boog Krol, $25,000

Full standings are available here.