LAS VEGAS (June 11, 2018) – Defending champion Michael Haugen Jr. of Phoenix, got his title defense off to a good start by taking the first round lead in the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open presented Storm Monday at the Suncoast Bowling Center.

The 2017 PBA50 Rookie of the Year bowled a 1,370 six-game pinfall total (228.3 average) to edge out PBA Hall of Famer and 2010 Senior U.S. Open winner Mark Williams of Beaumont, Texas, who finished one pin behind in second with 1,369.

“I’m just trying to keep it simple,” said the 51-year-old Haugen. “I have my equipment where I want it to be, which makes it a lot easier to make the adjustments I need to make. I don’t have a lot of balls in my arsenal but the ones that I do have I’m really confident in.”

Haugen, who won the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open presented by Brunswick in May for his second career PBA50 Tour title and finished third in the United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters Sunday for his second third-place finish of the season, bowled games of 255, 166, 235, 237, 247 and 230 in the first round.

“The 166 game was just a pair (of lanes) I couldn’t get a good read on,” said the five-time winner on the PBA Tour. “I wasn’t really worried about it at that point. I just had to make sure I got back to basics in the third game – make good shots, wash, rinse and repeat.”

Like a lot of bowlers on the PBA50 Tour, the experience gained over a long successful career many times substitutes for the lack of practice and regular competition.

Such was the case for Williams who bowled games of 225, 245, 238, 215 247 and 199 in his first round.

I’m thrilled with the start but it’s early yet,” said the 60-year-old bowling proprietor. “At this point in the tournament, you can’t win, you can only lose because of the challenging format and conditions.

“Because I don’t bowl as much as I used to I really have to rely on a good start to raise my confidence level for the rest of the tournament,” he added. “Right now my confidence level is pretty high.”

Rounding out the top five after the first round of the third PBA50 major of the season were non-member Bob Baer of Henderson, Nev.; 1,340; PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 1,336 and Marty Deh, San Jose, Calif., 1,327.

Qualifying continues Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with six-game rounds beginning at 9 a.m. PT.  The field will then be cut to the top 40 players for modified round-robin match play which will begin Friday at 8 a.m. After Friday’s second match play round at noon the top five players will be determined for the stepladder finals scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m.

PBA’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame is providing start to finish coverage of the Senior U.S. Open. For subscription and schedule information click onwww.xtraframe.tv.

SUNCOAST PBA SENIOR U.S. OPEN

Presented by Storm

Suncoast Bowling Center, Las Vegas, Monday

FIRST ROUND (after 6 games)

1, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 1,370.
2, ss-Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,369.
3, n-Bob Baer, Henderson, Nev., 1,340.
4, Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 1,336.
5, Marty Deh, San Jose, Calif., 1,327.
6, Rolando Sebelen, Dominican Republic, 1,326.
7, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,325.
8, ss-Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,323.
9, n-Steven Badovinac, Parker, Colo., 1,319.
10, (tie) Robert Lawrence, Austin, Texas, and Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 1,316.
12, (tie) n-Marv Sargent, Temecula, Calif., and Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 1,315.
14, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 1,313.
15, ss-Rick Minier, Houston, 1,306.
16, Allan Sennevall, Sweden, 1,305.
17, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,302.
18, n-Paul Fleming, Bedford, Texas, 1,301.
19, Eddie Graham, Kettering, Ohio, 1,296.
20, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 1,295.
21, Andrew Frawley, Australia, 1,291.
22, Keith Lesko, Prosper, Texas, 1,290.
23, Joseph Petrovich, Tracy, Calif, 1,289.
24, Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 1,284.
25, n,ss-Ben Hoefs, Mobile, Ala, 1,282.
26, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,281.
27, Eric Forkel, Henderson, Nev., 1,280.
28, (tie) Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., and Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 1,268.
30, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 1,263.
31, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 1,261.
32, (tie) n-Tish Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 1,260.
34, Brian LeClair, Albany, N.Y., 1,257.
35, Jeff Johnson, Freeport, Ill., 1,256.
36, ss-Michael Lucente, Warren, Mich., 1,255.
37, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,252.
38, ss-Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 1,251.
39, n-Barry Zimmerman, Grand Forks, N.D., 1,250.
40, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,249.
41, ss-David Axon, Bellevue, Neb., 1,243.
42, ss-Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,240.
43, Christer Petersson, Sweden, 1,238.
44, (tie) ss-Junichi Yajima, Japan, and Jan Larsen, Sweden, 1,236.
46, ss-Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 1,235.
47, Mark Mazzulla, Brentwood, Calif., 1,234.
48, n-David Bolles, Stockton, Calif., 1,231.
49, Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich., 1,229.
50, ss-Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., 1,228.
51, (tie) Mike Kanada, Camarillo, Calif., Paul McCordic, Sugar Land, Texas, and Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,225.
54, ss-John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,224.
55, Mike Mineman, St Louis, 1,223.
56, (tie) Pat Nolan, Japan, and ss-Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,222.
58, Ricky Schissler, Brighton, Colo., 1,221.
59, Troy Kendrick, Las Vegas, Nev., 1,220.
60, ss-Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 1,217.
61, n-John Hricsina Jr., Las Vegas, 1,216.
62, (tie) ss-Skip Pavone, San Jose, Calif., and Brian Cooper, Henderson, Nev., 1,215.
64, Noel Vazquez, Sacramento, Calif., 1,214.
65, n-Dana Wright, St. Paul, Minn., 1,212.
66, (tie) ss-Don Lane, San Francisco, and n-Pete Toth, Las Vegas, 1,210.
68, Wayne Garber, Modesto, Calif., 1,206.
69, n, ss-Bill Oakes, Lawton, Okla, 1,203.
69, (tie) ss-Stan Winters, Simi Valley, Calif., and Dennis Horan Jr., Oakley, Calif., 1,203.
72, Warren Eales, Chandler, Ariz., 1,199.
73, Doug O'Bryant, Ball Ground, Ga., 1,195.
74, (tie) Olle Svenson, Lerum, Sweden, and ss-Randy Turner, Shallowater, Texas, 1,194.
76, (tie) Charles Allen Jr., Pell City, Ala., and n-Jimmie Pritts Jr., Mathuen, Mass., 1,193.
78, ss-Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,192.
79, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,190.
80, n, ss-Darwin Wimer, Mesquite, Nev., 1,188.
81, n-Klaus Lischka, Germany, 1,187.
82, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 1,185.
83, n-Steven Smith, San Diego, 1,182.
84, (tie) Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., and Lennart Nyman, Sweden, 1,179.
86, ss-Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,178.
87, (tie) ss-Christopher Keane, Cape Coral, Fla., and n-Dave Cirigliano, Phoenix, 1,176.
89, ss-Robert Donovan, Prattsville, N.Y., 1,175.
89, Doug Kempt, Arcadia, Calif., 1,175.
91, (tie) Jonny Hall, Sweden, and Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,174.
93, Andrew Warren, Austin, Tex., 1,172.
94, Darron Peters, Temecula, Calif., 1,171.
95, (tie) ss-James Storts, Westfield, Ind., and ss-Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,170.
97, ss-Henry Dawson, Elma, Wash., 1,167.
98, n,ss-Ron Hosler, Englewood, Colo., 1,165.
99, Hakan Fast, Sweden, 1,163.
100, Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 1,161.
101, ss-John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,160.
102, (tie) David Allen, Las Vegas, and ss-Steven Jansson, Barnes, Wis., 1,157.
104, Daniel Miyamoto, Mililani, Hawaii, 1,156.
105, ss-Kerry Fulford, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,154.
106, Scott Greiner, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 1,148.
107, (tie) n-Jeff Row, Humbolt, Ariz., ss-Toby Contreras, Lee's Summit, Mo., and ss-Warren Nelson, Hemet, Calif., 1,144.
110, Randy Macomber, University Place, Wash., 1,143.
111, n-John Marsala, St. Louis, Mo. 1,139.
112, Tony Rodriguez Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 1,132.
113, (tie) ss-John Parry, Oak Park, Calif., and ss-Mike Schmid, St. Paul, Minn., 1,131.
115, Greg McDaniel, Kimball, Neb., 1,127.
116, ss-Lew Elting, Carlsbad, Calif., 1,125.
117, n-Marty Hinton, Henderson, Nev., 1,120.
118, n-Sean Couse, Henderson, Nev., 1,118.
119, ss-Ray Valdovino, Sacramento, Calif., 1,117.
120, n-Joe Baca, Brentwood, Calif., 1,113.
121, n-Mike Yuwiler, Las Vegas, 1,111.
122, Rob Rice, Sunnyside, Wash., 1,108.
123, n,ss-Jay Gneiting, Aberdeen, Idaho, 1,106.
124, (tie) Klas Thunberg, Sweden, and ss-Raymond Scrivens, Jr., Athens, Pa., 1,104.
126, Daniel Knafo, Valencia, Calif., 1,101.
127, Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va., 1,100.
128, n-Dennis Klein, Phoenix, 1,099.
129, n-Paul Renteria, Henderson, Nev., 1,098.
130, Timothy Regan, East Northport, N.Y., 1,093.
131, John Kidwell, Indianapolis, Ind., 1,090.
132, (tie) Jon DeLaney, McKinney, Texas, and Don Herrington, Ballston Lake, N.Y., 1,089.
134, n,ss-Paul Appling, Camarillo, Calif., 1,088.
135, Norm Spurlock, Kenner, La., 1,087.
136, n-Anthony Figuiera, Gardena, Calif., 1,086.
137, (tie) n,ss-Robert Callari, Cordova, Tenn., and ss-Crister Danielsson, Sweden, 1,082.
139, Richard McNeill, Yorktown, Va., 1,081.
140, Tomas Karlsson, Sweden, 1,080.
141, ss-Bruce Hall, Westborough, Mass., 1,075.
142, n,ss-David Graber, Las Vegas, 1,074.
143, John Austin Jr., League City, Texas, 1,069.
144, n-Shane Horsman, Fircrest, Wash., 1,068.
145, Joe Beck, Montgomery, Ala., 1,063.
146, ss-Russ Simmons, Fontana, Calif., 1,061.
147, ss-Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., 1,055.
148, ss-Glen Nakagawa, Highland Village, Texas, 1,053.
149, Frank Paganelli, Las Vegas, Nev., 1,043.
150, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 1,040.
151, ss-Rodney Garrick, San Francisco, 1,038.
152, ss-Steve Stein, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,028.
153, n,ss-Nelson Sand, Maple Valley. Wash., 1,021.
154, Jon J.J. Jensen, Olympia, Wash., 1,020.
155, ss-Tim Pierce, Portland, Ore., 1,015.
156, n,ss-Dale Knight, Las Vegas, 1,014.
157, n,ss-William Mcgee, Great Falls, Mont., 1,012.
158, ss-Ross McDonald, Las Vegas, Nev., 999.
159, Ron Anderson, Canyon Country, Calif., 985.
160, ss-Galen Keas, Alda, Neb., 975.
161, Brett Roberts, Taylor, Mich., 949.

n-non-member

ss-PBA60 player ages 60 and over