2013 Rookie of the Year E.J. Tackett trails by two pins after first 8 qualifying games

SHAWNEE, Okla. (Feb. 2, 2016) – England’s Dom Barrett, a four-time Professional Bowlers Association titlist, overtook E.J. Tackett of Huntington, Ind., by two pins in the final game to take the first round lead in the 51st FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions at FireLake Bowling Center Tuesday.

Barrett, 30, rolled games of 217, 221, 290, 229, 226, 235, 223 and 228 for a 1,869 pinfall total to edge the 23-year-old Tackett, who posted his 1,867-pin total earlier in the day. The opening round of PBA’s signature tournament saw the lead change after almost every game with nine players finishing within 23 pins of the leader.

“I watch a lot of soccer, golf and tennis, and the majors are the pinnacles of all sports,” Barrett said. “You don’t hear all that much about Tiger Woods’ 80-some titles; you hear about his majors. I’ve been working toward hitting my peak when tournaments like this come up. They’re the ones you really look forward to.”

Barrett, who won the 2013 PBA World Championship for his only major title, has experienced a number of close calls more recently, including a 236-223 loss to Ryan Ciminelli in the title match of the 2015 Bowlmor AMF U.S. Open. But he refuses to dwell in the past.

“Everything that’s happened in the past – I don’t think too much about it,” Barrett said. “I’m a kind of a look to the future kind of guy. I’m not thinking about being unlucky or whatever. I just want to be the best I can at the tournament I’m bowling at the moment.”

Tackett said his focus is getting back to the TV finals in a PBA major championship for a third time, after leading in the 2014 United States Bowling Congress Masters and the 2015 Rolltech PBA World Championship and losing both title matches.

“I was probably the most confident I had ever been going into a TV show for the World Championship, and in practice, I got tricked into throwing the wrong ball,” the 2013 PBA Rookie of the Year said. “I’m still learning. Bowling on TV is a lot different than bowling during the event. I think the next time I made a TV show, I’ll do better based on what I learned on that show.

“I’ve finished second in two majors, but I look at it like Jack Nicklaus winning 18 majors and finishing second 19 times. That was a lot of opportunities. The thing is, you can’t win unless you get there, so if I keep putting myself in position, I’m gonna win. You just have to be patient and let it happen.”

Right behind Barrett and Tackett were Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pa., with 1,864 pins; Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., in fourth with a 1,855 total and Mitch Beasley of Clarksville, Tenn., in fifth place with 1,854 pins.

Two-time defending TOC champion Jason Belmonte of Australia sat in 48th place after eight games with 1,682 pins.

The field of 77 PBA tournament champions will bowl its second 8-game qualifying round Wednesday and the top 27 players after 16 games will then advance to Thursday’s 8-game cashers round. After 24 games, the top 24 will advance to three 8-game rounds of head-to-head match play to determine the top five for Sunday’s live ESPN finals at 2 p.m. ET.

FIRELAKE PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

FireLake Bowling Center, Shawnee, Okla., Tuesday

First Round Standings (after 8 games)

1, Dom Barrett, England, 1,869.
2, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 1,867.
3, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,864.
4, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 1,855.
5, Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 1,854.
6, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 1,851.
7, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,849.
8, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,847.
9, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,846.
10, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,828.
11, Will Barnes, Wichita, Kan., 1,826.
12 (tie), Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, and Patrick Allen, South Salem, N.Y., 1,822.
14, Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,812.
15, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 1,811.
16, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,808.
17, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,806.
18, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1,805.
19, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,781.
20, f-Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,775.
21 (tie), Jesper Svensson, Sweden, and f-Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 1,771.
23, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,769.
24, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 1,768.
25, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 1,764.
26, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,761.
27, (tie) Paul Moor, England, and Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 1,760.
29, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1,754.
30, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 1,752.
31, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 1,748.
32, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 1,745.
33, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 1,734.
34, Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 1,730.
35, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,726.
36, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,725.
37, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,723.
38 (tie), Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, and Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1,721.
40, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 1,718.
41, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,707.
42, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 1,706.
43, David Scardaville, Houston, Texas, 1,705.
44, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 1,700.
45, Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., 1,697.
46, Stuart Williams, England, 1,696.
47, J.T. Jackson, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 1,689.
48, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,682.
49, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 1,680.
50, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 1,673.
51, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 1,665.
52, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 1,660.
53, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 1,655.
54, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,649.
55, Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio, 1,646.
56, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,637.
57, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,636.
58, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 1,629.
59, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 1,627.
60, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 1,625.
61, Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 1,620.
62, Blake Demore, Springfield, Mo., 1,613.
63, f-Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 1,611.
64, Kyle Bigelow, Troy, Ohio, 1,606.
65, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 1,601.
66, Paul Brewbaker , Midwest City, Okla., 1,597.
67, Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 1,586.
68, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,571.
69, David Williams Jr., Omaha, Neb., 1,548.
70, f-Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 1,542.
71, Joe Salvemini, Nevada City, Calif., 1,539.
72, Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill., 1,508.
72, Brandon Bivens, East Ridge, Tenn., 1,508.
74, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 1,504.
75, Scott Greiner, Platte City, Mo., 1,483.
76, Lee White, Odessa, Texas, 1,466.
77, Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,451.

300 Game: Kyle Troup.

f-denotes female