O'Neill grabs lead heading into final round of qualifying at 2025 USBC Masters
March 26, 2025
Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, followed up Monday's 1,173 with 1,134 during Round 2 on Tuesday to move into the overall lead with one round of qualifying remaining at the 2025 USBC Masters, which is being contested at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan.
FULL RESULTS
ALLEN PARK, Michigan – Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, has put together a very impressive Professional Bowlers Association Tour career.
Over the last two decades, the 43-year-old right-hander has racked up 15 PBA Tour titles, including three majors – the 2009-2010 U.S. Open and the 2020 and 2024 PBA Players Championship.
Nevertheless, one title that has eluded O’Neill thus far is a United States Bowling Congress Masters crown.
Although there is still lots of bowling left to be done, O’Neill is in as good a position as anyone to make a run at this year’s title after he moved into first place in the overall standings at the conclusion of Tuesday’s second round of qualifying at the 2025 USBC Masters, which is being contested at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan.
O’Neill recorded games of 237, 225, 228, 233 and 211 during A Squad qualifying on Tuesday night, which gave him a total of 1,134 for the day and pushed his two-day, 10-game mark to 2,307 (a 230.70 average).
That was enough to put O’Neill’s name atop the standings in the 390-player field with one final five-game qualifying block remaining on Wednesday before the field is cut to the top 63, plus, the defending champion, for match play.
Patrick Dombrowski of Parma, Ohio, who authored a runner-up finish at the 2024 Masters in Las Vegas, finished Round 2 in second place overall at 2,265.
Opening-round leader Sean Lavery-Spahr of Pasadena, Texas, was third at 2,259 while Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan (2,249) and Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington (2,227), secured fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Finland’s Santtu Tahvanainen finished Tuesday’s second round in 147th place at 1,984, but he thrilled the spectators at Thunderbowl Lanes by notching just the second 300 game of the 2025 Masters, which he rolled during Game 4 of B Squad qualifying.
Sweden’s Rasmus Edvall, who is tied for 53rd place at 2,083, shot the first perfect game of this year’s tournament during B Squad’s third game in Round 1.
O’Neill has yet to reach perfection at this year’s event, but he’s broken 200 in nine out of the first 10 games he’s bowled. It’s that level of consistency that has the PBA Tour veteran in first place through two rounds and hoping to record a new personal-best finish at the Masters.
O’Neill’s best results at the Masters to date are a pair of sixth-place finishes, one in 2010 and the other in 2017.
While he would certainly love to improve that record this week in Allen Park, he continues to keep his focus on the process as opposed to the outcome.
“The last month hasn’t been really good for me, so I’m just focusing on my physical game,” O’Neill said. “I went back home and worked with a guy I’m close with who used to work with my dad. He tried to help me out and tell me ‘this is what your dad would tell you.’ That’s what we did, and it got me back together physically. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.”
That’s not entirely true; after all, O’Neill has also had to do some thinking about how to attack the challenging 44-foot oil pattern being used at the 2025 Masters.
Due to the squad schedule, O’Neill’s first two rounds have both been on the fresh; however, Wednesday’s final qualifying round will have A Squad battling the burn, which will force O’Neill and his fellow competitors to employ a different approach in order to be successful.
“I’m going to use some different balls with cleaner covers tomorrow, but I’m still going to stay with it physically,” O’Neill said. “I just want to keep throwing it well. You can’t predict how match play is going to go regardless of where you get seeded for the bracket, so I just want to bowl well. Wherever I end up, I end up.”
Even though he isn’t thinking that far ahead, ultimately, O’Neill would like to end up holding the trophy and $100,000 first-place check at the conclusion of Sunday’s stepladder finals.
“It would be great to make a deep run,” O’Neill said. “It’s a lot of fun when things go well for you at the Masters. It’s been a while since I’ve done that, so I’m just looking forward to getting in there, starting up and hopefully making that good run.”
John Furey of Howell, New Jersey, also hopes to make a run, but his will need to start on Wednesday if he is going to advance to match play. That’s because Furey will enter the final five-game qualifying block holding the 63rd and final advancing spot in the bracket.
Furey earned that position thanks to a two-day, 10-game total of 2,072 (a 207.20 average). His position is far from safe, however, as there are 45 bowlers within 50 pins of Furey for the final spot heading into Round 3.
After three rounds and 15 games of qualifying, which includes two blocks on the fresh lane condition and one squad on the burn, the top 63 players will join defending champion DeeRonn Booker of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the double-elimination bracket beginning Thursday.
Booker is guaranteed a spot in the bracket as the defending champion, but he can improve his seeding through qualifying. If he happens to finish qualifying outside of the top 63, he’ll be the No. 64 seed.
With one round of qualifying remaining, Booker is tied for 133rd place with a 2,001 total.
Qualifying and match play will remain consistent with previous editions of the Masters prior to the introduction of TV on March 29. The double-elimination bracket will be retained, and all matches leading up to the final eight competitors will feature three-game total-pinfall contests.
However, once the Elimination Bracket is down to the final six, television matches will start with four single-game matches replacing the final three-game head-to-head round and four-player shootout to determine the finalists for the stepladder. These matches will be broadcast live on FS1.
These TV matches will implement a knockout-style format with the winners of the first two games advancing to the finals of the Elimination Bracket. The advancers then will take on players who lost in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket with each winner earning a spot in the opening match of the stepladder on March 30.
The two players who emerge victorious from the semifinals of the Winners Bracket will earn automatic spots on the March 30 broadcast with a three-game total-pinfall match determining the top seed. This match will be broadcast at BowlTV.com.
With only four players advancing to the stepladder, the top seed will need to be defeated twice on FOX to be denied the title.
The stepladder at the 2025 event will be March 30 at noon Eastern on FOX, with the champion taking home a spot in the tournament’s storied history, a major title on the PBA Tour and the $100,000 top prize.
For more information on the USBC Masters, CLICK HERE.
FULL RESULTS
ALLEN PARK, Michigan – Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, has put together a very impressive Professional Bowlers Association Tour career.
Over the last two decades, the 43-year-old right-hander has racked up 15 PBA Tour titles, including three majors – the 2009-2010 U.S. Open and the 2020 and 2024 PBA Players Championship.
Nevertheless, one title that has eluded O’Neill thus far is a United States Bowling Congress Masters crown.
Although there is still lots of bowling left to be done, O’Neill is in as good a position as anyone to make a run at this year’s title after he moved into first place in the overall standings at the conclusion of Tuesday’s second round of qualifying at the 2025 USBC Masters, which is being contested at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan.
O’Neill recorded games of 237, 225, 228, 233 and 211 during A Squad qualifying on Tuesday night, which gave him a total of 1,134 for the day and pushed his two-day, 10-game mark to 2,307 (a 230.70 average).
That was enough to put O’Neill’s name atop the standings in the 390-player field with one final five-game qualifying block remaining on Wednesday before the field is cut to the top 63, plus, the defending champion, for match play.
Patrick Dombrowski of Parma, Ohio, who authored a runner-up finish at the 2024 Masters in Las Vegas, finished Round 2 in second place overall at 2,265.
Opening-round leader Sean Lavery-Spahr of Pasadena, Texas, was third at 2,259 while Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan (2,249) and Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington (2,227), secured fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Finland’s Santtu Tahvanainen finished Tuesday’s second round in 147th place at 1,984, but he thrilled the spectators at Thunderbowl Lanes by notching just the second 300 game of the 2025 Masters, which he rolled during Game 4 of B Squad qualifying.
Sweden’s Rasmus Edvall, who is tied for 53rd place at 2,083, shot the first perfect game of this year’s tournament during B Squad’s third game in Round 1.
O’Neill has yet to reach perfection at this year’s event, but he’s broken 200 in nine out of the first 10 games he’s bowled. It’s that level of consistency that has the PBA Tour veteran in first place through two rounds and hoping to record a new personal-best finish at the Masters.
O’Neill’s best results at the Masters to date are a pair of sixth-place finishes, one in 2010 and the other in 2017.
While he would certainly love to improve that record this week in Allen Park, he continues to keep his focus on the process as opposed to the outcome.
“The last month hasn’t been really good for me, so I’m just focusing on my physical game,” O’Neill said. “I went back home and worked with a guy I’m close with who used to work with my dad. He tried to help me out and tell me ‘this is what your dad would tell you.’ That’s what we did, and it got me back together physically. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.”
That’s not entirely true; after all, O’Neill has also had to do some thinking about how to attack the challenging 44-foot oil pattern being used at the 2025 Masters.
Due to the squad schedule, O’Neill’s first two rounds have both been on the fresh; however, Wednesday’s final qualifying round will have A Squad battling the burn, which will force O’Neill and his fellow competitors to employ a different approach in order to be successful.
“I’m going to use some different balls with cleaner covers tomorrow, but I’m still going to stay with it physically,” O’Neill said. “I just want to keep throwing it well. You can’t predict how match play is going to go regardless of where you get seeded for the bracket, so I just want to bowl well. Wherever I end up, I end up.”
Even though he isn’t thinking that far ahead, ultimately, O’Neill would like to end up holding the trophy and $100,000 first-place check at the conclusion of Sunday’s stepladder finals.
“It would be great to make a deep run,” O’Neill said. “It’s a lot of fun when things go well for you at the Masters. It’s been a while since I’ve done that, so I’m just looking forward to getting in there, starting up and hopefully making that good run.”
John Furey of Howell, New Jersey, also hopes to make a run, but his will need to start on Wednesday if he is going to advance to match play. That’s because Furey will enter the final five-game qualifying block holding the 63rd and final advancing spot in the bracket.
Furey earned that position thanks to a two-day, 10-game total of 2,072 (a 207.20 average). His position is far from safe, however, as there are 45 bowlers within 50 pins of Furey for the final spot heading into Round 3.
After three rounds and 15 games of qualifying, which includes two blocks on the fresh lane condition and one squad on the burn, the top 63 players will join defending champion DeeRonn Booker of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the double-elimination bracket beginning Thursday.
Booker is guaranteed a spot in the bracket as the defending champion, but he can improve his seeding through qualifying. If he happens to finish qualifying outside of the top 63, he’ll be the No. 64 seed.
With one round of qualifying remaining, Booker is tied for 133rd place with a 2,001 total.
Qualifying and match play will remain consistent with previous editions of the Masters prior to the introduction of TV on March 29. The double-elimination bracket will be retained, and all matches leading up to the final eight competitors will feature three-game total-pinfall contests.
However, once the Elimination Bracket is down to the final six, television matches will start with four single-game matches replacing the final three-game head-to-head round and four-player shootout to determine the finalists for the stepladder. These matches will be broadcast live on FS1.
These TV matches will implement a knockout-style format with the winners of the first two games advancing to the finals of the Elimination Bracket. The advancers then will take on players who lost in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket with each winner earning a spot in the opening match of the stepladder on March 30.
The two players who emerge victorious from the semifinals of the Winners Bracket will earn automatic spots on the March 30 broadcast with a three-game total-pinfall match determining the top seed. This match will be broadcast at BowlTV.com.
With only four players advancing to the stepladder, the top seed will need to be defeated twice on FOX to be denied the title.
The stepladder at the 2025 event will be March 30 at noon Eastern on FOX, with the champion taking home a spot in the tournament’s storied history, a major title on the PBA Tour and the $100,000 top prize.
For more information on the USBC Masters, CLICK HERE.