LAS VEGAS (June 14, 2017) – Brian LeClair, of Delmar, N.Y., the 2017 PBA50 Tour season’s only multiple winner, averaged 222 to earn top qualifier honors Wednesday in the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Storm.

The 52-year-old LeClair finished qualifying with a 3,998 18-game pinfall total at the Suncoast Bowling Center to lead a field of 40 players into the match play portion of the season’s third and final major for players 50 years and older.

LeClair, with two titles this season – the Pasco County Florida Open and Johnny Petraglia BVL Open – got off to a good start in Wednesday’s third round with games of 239, 226, 203, 258, but then struggled in the final two with 186 and 169.

“That’s about as disappointed as I’ve ever been to be the tournament leader,” said LeClair. “I’m happy to be where I’m at but at the same time frustrated that I could have had a lot more.

“For the most part I was doing everything right,” the three-time PBA50 Tour titlist added. “The whole round I was hitting the pocket consistently but just wasn’t striking in the last two games.”

LeClair admitted that adjusting to the demanding U.S. Open lane conditions has been the ultimate test for his ability to adjust.

“This tournament was kind of a red flag for me because the U.S. Open lane condition can be my nemesis,” LeClair said. “I need to improve my versatility so I’m just going to have to continue to figure it out for the rest of the tournament.”

Right behind LeClair are two of PBA’s all-time greats, 2014 Senior U.S. Open winner Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla. and Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Fla., who finished qualifying in second and third, respectively.

Duke, who led after the second round, finished just three pins behind LeClair with a 3,995 pinfall total bowling games of 190, 200, 223, 192, 203 and 203 in the third round. The 38-time PBA Tour winner won the Race City Open earlier this season for his fourth career PBA50 Tour title.

Williams, the PBA’s all-time titles leader with 47 wins, finished 27 pins back with a 3,971 pinfall total finishing with games of 212, 195, 223, 211, 195 and 214 in the third round.

Williams is trying for his second consecutive PBA50 major title of the season after winning last week’s United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters for his 11th career PBA50 Tour title.

Two-time defending champion PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., advanced to match play but dropped from seventh after the second round to 17th finishing with a 3,808 pinfall. The tournament’s other two-time winner Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli bowled the tournament’s first 300 game and qualified ninth with a 3,848 pinfall. The Venezuelan won the Senior U.S. Open back-to-back in 2012 and 2013.

Both Weber and Monacelli are trying to become the Senior U.S. Open’s first three-time winner.

After Thursday’s match play rounds the field will be cut to the top 20 for Friday’s match play which will determine the top five who will advance to the stepladder finals scheduled for 4 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT). All rounds of the tournament, including the stepladder finals, are streamed live exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel. To sign up for an Xtra Frame subscription, visit www.xtraframe.tv.

SUNCOAST PBA SENIOR U.S. OPEN 

Presented by Storm

Suncoast Bowling Center, Las Vegas, Wednesday

THIRD ROUND (after 18 games. Top 40 players advance to Thursday’s match play rounds)

1, Brian LeClair, Delmar, N.Y., 3,998.
2, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,995.
3, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,971.
4, Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, 3,952.
5, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 3,915.
6, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 3,893.
7, Joe Goldstein Sr., San Bruno, Calif., 3,886.
8, Andrew Frawley, Australia, 3,865.
9, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,848.
10, Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 3,835.
11, Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 3,832.
12, n-Dave Cirigliano, Phoenix, 3,831.
13, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 3,826.
14, Olle Svenson, Sweden, 3,816.
15, Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 3,812.
16, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,809.
17, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,808.
18, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 3,801.
19, n-Andrew Neuer, Lewisburg, Pa., 3,796.
20, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 3,790.
21, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 3,785.
22, Ernie Segura Jr., Taylor, Mich., 3,767.
23, Rick Minier, Houston, 3,762.
24, Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 3,759.
25, (tie) n-Paul Renteria, Henderson, Nev., and Ricky Schissler, Brighton, Colo., 3,758.
27, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 3,755.
28, (tie) Greg McDaniel, Kimball, Neb., and Rick Steelsmith, Wichita, Kan., 3,753.
30, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,748.
31, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 3,739.
32, Paul McCordic, Sugar Land, Texas, 3,735.
33, Eddie Graham, Centerville, Ohio, 3,732.
34, Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 3,729.
35, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 3,717.
36, John Burkett, Southlake, Texas, 3,703.
37, Willie Wells, Dallas, Texas, 3,702.
38, Tommy Martin, Olive Branch, Miss., 3,684.
39, Robert Lawrence, Austin, Texas, 3,676.
40, Peter Knopp, Germany, 3,671.

Did not advance
41, Darron Peters, Temecula, Calif., 3,670, $1,000.
42, ss-n-Bill Oakes, Lawton, Okla, 3,668, $1,000.
43, Marty Deh, San Jose, Calif., 3,665.
44, Gary Alstott, Washington, Ill., 3,663.
45, ss-Junichi Yajima, Japan, 3,657, $1,000.
46, ss-Thomas Ream, Tampa, Fla., 3,645, $1,000.
47, ss-n-Roger Kossert, Lithia, Fla., 3,644, $1,000.
48, ss-Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 3,642, $1,000.
49, ss-David Axon, Bellevue, Neb., 3,638, $1,000.
50, Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va., 3,636.
51, Patrick Shipley, Spring Valley, Calif., 3,628.
52, ss-Don Lane, San Francisco, 3,626, $1,000.
53, ss-Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 3,624, $1,000.
54, (tie) Mitchell Vernon, Olympia, Wash., and Robert Leonard, Lockwood, N.Y., 3,614.
56, Derek Gregory, Chowchilla, Calif., 3,612.
57, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 3,610.
58, Koichiro Tamaki, Japan, 3,604.
59, (tie) Tony Rodriguez Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and n-Jeff Jamison, Boulder City, Nev., 3,603.
61, Scott Greiner, Platte City, Mo., 3,602.
62, n-John DeBenedetta Jr., Las Vegas, 3,597.
63, Eric Forkel, Henderson, Nev., 3,595.
64, Mark Mazzulla, Brentwood, Calif., 3,593.
65, Doug Kempt, Arcadia, Calif., 3,586.
66, Christopher Keane, Cape Coral, Fla., 3,584.
67, Christer Petersson, Sweden, 3,578.
68, n-Dave Washburn, Las Vegas, 3,573.
69, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,572.
70, (tie) Tony Adkins, Port Orange, Fla., and n-John Shreve, Sheffield Village, Ohio, 3,566.
72, n-Joe Salvemini, Nevada City, Calif., 3,564.
73, n-James Wallace, Hicksville, N.Y., 3,562.
74, n-John West, Milwaukie, Ore., 3,559.
75, n-Alvin Lou, El Cajon, Calif., 3,557.
76, Craig Miller, Tracy, Calif., 3,554.
77, Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., 3,551.
78, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 3,546.
79, Marv Sargent, Temecula, Calif., 3,528.
80, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 3,524.
81, Ron Hosler, Denver, 3,519.
82, Warren Nelson, Hemet, Calif., 3,516.
83, (tie) n-Michael Karch, Edgewood, Wash., and Rob Rice, Sunnyside, Wash., 3,512.
85, Michael Lucente, Warren, Mich., 3,506.
86, Bruce Hall, Westborough, Mass., 3,501.
87, Randy Turner, Shallowater, Texas, 3,495.
88, Tim Shirlock, Las Vegas, 3,488.
89, Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 3,476.
90, Steven Jansson, Barnes, Wis., 3,474.
91, Daniel Miyamoto, Mililani, Hawaii, 3,473.
92, (tie) n-John Thompson, Sarasota, Fla., and n-Stephen Hardy, Raymond, Mass., 3,464.
94, Don Herrington, Ballston Lake, N.Y., 3,462.
95, Rick Francis, Linden, Calif., 3,456.
96, n-Steven DiMartino, Upper Saddle River,N.J., 3,448.
97, Norm Spurlock, Kenner, La., 3,447.
98, n-Dennis Samsel, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3,445.
99, (tie) n-Lloyd Burleson, San Diego, Lew Elting, Carlsbad, Calif., and Mike Schmid, St. Paul, Minn., 3,444.
102, Timothy Regan, East Northport, N.Y., 3,443.
103, n-David Waswo, Lee's Summit, Mo., 3,437.
104, Brian Cooper, Henderson, Nev., 3,421.
105, n-Darwin Wimer, Mesquite, Nev., 3,411.
106, Johnny Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 3,410.
107, (tie) Michael Klosin, Windham, N.H., and Rodney Remmers, Moore, Texas, 3,409.
109, Nile Konicek, Gilbert, Ariz., 3,397.
110, (tie) Joe Beck, Montgomery, Ala., and Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 3,392.
112, n-David Graber, Las Vegas, 3,390.
113, John Parry, Oak Park, Calif., 3,369.
114, n-Dean Hebner, Vancouver, Wash., 3,366.
115, James Storts, Westfield, Ind., 3,364.
116, Rudy Garcia, Fort Worth, Texas, 3,360.
117, n-Jay Gneiting, Aberdeen, Idaho, 3,357.
118, Terry Rohrer, Ft. Wayne, Ind., 3,356.
119, Sal Bongiorno, Las Vegas, 3,351.
120, n-Paul Appling, Camarillo, Calif., 3,348.
121, n-Bob Baer, Henderson, Nev., 3,344.
122, (tie) n-Tish Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo., and n-Laurence Corrigan, Henderson, Nev., 3,343.
124, Jim Montgomery, Byron, Ill., 3,339.
125, Robert Petruschak, Athens, Pa., 3,337.
126, Gerald Calvin, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 3,306.
127, Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 3,301.
128, n-Kerry Fulford, Ft. Worth, Texas, 3,294.
129, George Lord, Lakeland, Fla., 3,281.
130, Joseph Petrovich, Tracy, Calif, 3,270.
131, n-Frank Rose Jr, Bellaire, Texas, 3,264.
132, (tie) Stan Winters, Simi Valley, Calif., and Russ Simmons, Fontana, Calif., 3,259.
134, n-Pete Toth, Simi Valley, Calif., 3,253.
135, (tie) John Kidwell, Indianapolis, Ind., and n-John Hricsina Jr., Las Vegas, 3,243.
137, Robert Walters, North Las Vegas, Nev., 3,242.
138, n-D. Scott Crane, Broken Arrow, Okla., 3,231.
139, James Hutchinson, Ludlow Falls, Ohio, 3,230.
140, Eddie Katz, Lakewood, Calif., 3,228.
141, Robert Donovan, Prattsville, N.Y., 3,222.
142, (tie) John Younger, Winston-Salem, N.C., and Raymond Scrivens, Athens, Pa., 3,208.
144, Mike Watson, Grass Valley, Calif., 3,195.
145, n-Charles Allen Jr., Pell City, Ala., 3,192.
146, n-Glenn Ito, Torrence, Calif., 3,180.
147, (tie) Barry McCown, Chula Vista, Calif., and n-Andrew Warren, Austin, Tex., 3,177.
149, (tie) John Austin Jr., League City, Texas, and Mark Fennell, Seattle, 3,167.
151, Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., 3,148.
152, Ron Anderson, Canyon Country, Calif., 3,138.
153, Tim Pierce, Portland, Ore., 3,125.
154, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 3,107.
155, Nelson Sand, Maple Valley. Wash., 3,070.
156, n-Mark Goldstein, Northridge, Calif., 2,991.
157, n-Gabriel Luchetta, Golden, Colo., 2,889.
158, n-Dennis Ferguson, Bellingham, Wash., 2,886.
159, Galen Keas, Alda, Neb., 2,809.
160, Dave Sill, Titusville, Fla., 2,760.
161, Glen Nakagawa, Highland Village, Texas, 2,517.

n-non-member

ss-PBA60 players ages 60 and over out of the regular prize list cashing for $1,000.