PBA Tour Season Finale Underway in Sweden

The world’s top bowlers head to Europe for the final title event of the 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling.

The Storm Lucky Larsen Masters (SLLM) began Friday, Aug. 21 at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg, Sweden.

All qualifying and match play rounds will be livestreamed for free on the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters YouTube channel.

This marks the fourth consecutive season in which the season has concluded with the SLLM.

AJ Johnson captured his elusive first title in 2023, then Swedish star Jesper Svensson prevailed in 2024, and Sean Rash persevered through injury to win a year ago.

Follow the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters and BowlingLife.EU for more coverage of the SLLM.

Daily updates during the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters will be available on PBA.com.

Player of the Year Race

The intensity of this season’s Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award race has drawn each of the top contenders to Scandinavia. 

EJ Tackett, the three-time reigning Player of the Year, leads the PBA Tour in most statistical categories, including points, earnings, average, top-five finishes, etc.

There is one statistic in which Tackett didn’t separate from his peers: titles. He won the AMF PBA World Championship — securing a historic four-peat in the major title event — but did not win any other tournaments.

It took until the 14th title event for a multi-time champion to emerge, but eventually breakout star Zach Wilkins, veteran Marshall Kent rookies, and rookies Alex Horton and Spencer Robarge, each compiled a pair of wins this season.

Wilkins, Horton, and Robarge will head to Sweden in pursuit of a third title, while Kent is not scheduled to compete.

Tackett’s overall body of work — his lead in points, for example, is nearly the equivalent of two major championship titles — is likely enough to supplant the one title difference between himself and Wilkins or Horton.

A three-to-one title ratio, however, could change some voters' minds.

Rookie of the Year Race

Three members of the greatest rookie class in PBA history head with aspirations of notching one more signature performance to stamp a Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year season.

Horton and Robarge became the first pair of rookies to win multiple titles in their debut season. But they are not runaway favorites to win Rookie of the Year.

Brandon Bonta’s lone title carried the prestige of a major title, the gravitas of a title-match victory over EJ Tackett, the flair of a televised 300 game, and the anchoring bias of the season’s first tournament. 

While the cliff notes are remarkable, the full story of Bonta’s season are even more rich. He ranked third in points and third in earnings among all players, notably ahead of Horton and Robarge. In his four major appearances, Bonta finished first, fifth, sixth and seventh.

Austin Grammar, who won the Surfside PBA New York Classic, will have to settle for the greatest fourth-place Rookie of the Year finish in tour history as he is not scheduled to compete in the SLLM.

Format

The SLLM features a unique format as players can bowl multiple of the 27 qualifying squads from August 21-29.

The top 25 qualifying scores after each of the six-game rounds will earn a direct entry into the second cut, called Final Step 2. Qualifiers 26-40 plus additional 15 qualifiers, outlined in Page 3 of the tournament rules, will compete in Final Step 1.

Final Step 1 is a five-game round, while Final Step 2 is another six-game round.

The latter advancer round will determine the field of 16 players who will compete in elimination match play. The Round of 16 and Round of 8 will each be a three-game total pinfall match, while the semifinal and final matches will be a single game.

The winner will receive 200.000 SEK (est. $21, 750 USD). If the winner is a PBA member, they will receive an official PBA Tour title.

More information on the SLLM is available here.