It’s official! The field at the 2019 US Open has completed 56 games on four challenging conditions at Victory Lanes and three Storm and Roto Grip athletes have qualified for the stepladder finals.
The top five PBA bowlers who qualified will bowl live on CBS Sports Network on Wednesday at 8 pm Eastern.
Francois Lavoie earned the #2 seed after qualifying averaging 212 for the tournament. He used a combination of the Phaze II, Hy-Road, All-Road, and Roto Grip IDOL.
“It’s a great feeling being back on TV,” Lavoie said. “’I’ve had some struggles earlier in the year, but I’ve worked through them and I feel much better physically and mentally at the moment. It’s a win in itself to put up such a good performance in such a demanding tournament. Now I have two games to go after another title.”
Jason Belmonte finished second the final round to earn the #3 seed. Belmonte, a 22-time PBA Tour champion will be bowling for his 12th major title and first US Open title. Earlier this season, Belmonte won the 2019 PBA World Championship to move past PBA Hall of Famers Earl Anthony and Pete Weber on the all-time major list. Belmonte used a combination of the Pitch Black, Hy-Road Nano, Hy-Road and Roto Grip IDOL Pearl.
“Making the US Open TV show is extremely rewarding,” Belmonte said. “It is a tournament that requires the best of you and I’m happy to have done enough to get this far. The job however is not done. Time to bowl the best games of my life for the title. It’s the ultimate test in bowling.”
Anthony Simonsen will join these two players to represent the brands of Storm and Roto Grip. He earned the #5 seed after qualifying and has the opportunity to become the youngest player to win three majors. He used a combination of the Phaze II, !Q Tour Emerald, Alpha Crux, and Roto Grip HALO to qualify for the show.
“In all my years, on Tour this was definitely the most demanding event I have ever worked,” Jim Callahan, Storm PBA Tour Manager said. “The players that could repeat their speed control and launch angle definitely excelled. History can be made tonight. I’m looking forward to a great night!”
Team Storm and Roto Grip had several top finishers amongst the field of 144 players and we’re proud of how hard our athletes worked all week on the challenging conditions.
In addition, Storm Products joined Logo Infusion to create the 2019 Storm USA Collection where fans at home can add an All-American themed jersey to their collection to honor the most challenging event of the PBA Tour season. To view the full collection, click here.
The 2020 PBA Tour Season kicks off in January for the PBA Hall of Fame Classic in Arlington TX. To view the full schedule visit pba.com.