Butturff leads heading into final round of match play at 2018 U.S. Open

STANDINGS

WICHITA, Kan.
- With one round of match play remaining at the 2018 U.S. Open, Jakob Butturff of Chandler, Arizona, has surged into the lead and looks to earn the top seed for the stepladder finals for the second consecutive year.

The top five players after 56 games will advance to Wednesday's live stepladder finals, which will air live on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. Eastern. The champion will take home the $30,000 top prize and coveted green jacket.

The 24-year-old left-hander has built of lead of 363 pins after Tuesday's second round of match play, going 7-1 and averaging more than 243 at Northrock Lanes. Butturff's overall record through two rounds is 12-4, brining his total pinfall, including bonus pins, to 11,220.

Kristopher Prather of Plainfield, Illinois, dropped to second for the first time this week, finishing the second round of match play at 10,857. Jason Sterner of Covington, Georgia, rolled a 300 game to move into third with 10,554, while England's Dom Barrett (10,533) and EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana (10,508), round out the top five.

Ryan Ciminelli, the 2015 U.S. Open champion from Cheektowaga, New York, is the first player outside of the top five, sitting 24 pins behind Tackett with 10,484.

Defending champion Rhino Page of Orlando, Florida, is in eighth place with 10,410.

The final round of match play will start Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern, and the action will be featured live on the Professional Bowlers Association's online bowling channel Xtra Frame on FloBowling.

The 2018 U.S. Open started with 144 players before the field was cut to the top 36 players after three eight-game qualifying blocks. The 36 advancers returned to Northrock Lanes for an additional eight games to determine the 24 bowlers moving on to match play.

Match play kicked off Monday with the first of three eight-game blocks.

The U.S. Open is the fourth and final major championship on the 2018 PBA Tour schedule and is conducted jointly by the United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors' Association of America.