Sanders sits atop standings after second round at 2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open
March 05, 2026
Matt Sanders of Evansville, Indiana, shot 1,810 during Round 2 on Wednesday to take over first place in the overall standings at the 2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis.
FULL RESULTS
INDIANAPOLIS – Matt Sanders of Evansville, Indiana, holds the overall lead after two rounds of qualifying at the 2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open, which is taking place at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis.
The 32-year-old left-hander posted an eight-game score of 1,810 on Wednesday afternoon thanks to games of 204, 216, 210, 224, 247, 276, 188 and 245. That mark, combined with the 1,726 he authored during Round 1 on Tuesday, gave Sanders a two-day, 16-game total of 3,536 (a 221 average), which is good enough for first place in the 108-player field heading into Thursday’s final eight-game qualifying block.
Ethan Fiore of Valrico, Florida, and Malaysia’s Tun Hakim are tied for second place just two pins back at 3,534 – Hakim is currently the only bowler to have rolled a perfect game at this year’s tournament, which came during Game 5 of Round 1 on Tuesday.
Opening-round leader Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, sits fourth with 3,529 while Michael Davidson of Versailles, Ohio, is fifth at 3,500.
The spot on every athlete’s mind, however, is 36th because that is the lowest position in the standings a bowler can occupy to survive the first cut and advance to Cashers’ Round competition on Friday.
Currently, 36th place is held by 2011 United States Bowling Congress Masters champion Tom Hess of Granger, Iowa. He got there thanks to a 16-game mark of 3,301 (a 206.31 average), which included 1,705 on Day 1 and 1,596 on Wednesday.
Sanders’ two rounds have been much more consistent, and that’s why the 2017 Professional Bowlers Association Rookie of the Year appears poised to record his fifth top-25 finish in the last six years at bowling’s most prestigious major championship.
Nevertheless, Sanders isn’t taking anything for granted heading into Thursday’s final eight games of qualifying.
“Being in the position I’m in right now might make things a little bit easier, but I’m trying not to think about that too much,” Sanders said. “Obviously, I still want to get as many pins as possible, so I’m just going to go in with the same mindset as the first two days, take it one frame at a time and see what we can get.”
Sanders added plenty of pins to his total while taking on the 47-foot Round 2 oil pattern on Wednesday, and he thinks that happened because of something he noticed during the U.S. Open’s official practice session two days earlier.
“I saw that there might be a good shot on the inside part of the lane on the long pattern, so I had a couple bowling balls lined up that I thought would work; luckily, they did,” Sanders said. “I stayed patient and got pretty fortunate to stay out of trouble the first two or three games when the lanes were tough, and then I got most of my pins during the back half of the block.”
But Sanders’ success can’t be chalked up to strategy alone; he also just always seems to be at his best when he hits the lanes at Royal Pin Woodland.
“There’s something about this place,” Sanders said. “I made my second ever PBA TV show here, and I’ve made match play at the last several U.S. Opens in this building. Maybe it’s a matchup thing, or it might just be because I’m comfortable here since I’m pretty close to home. I guess it all just adds up.”
If the trend continues over the next four days, it could result in Sanders collecting his second PBA title and first career major, a $100,000 first-place check and the coveted U.S. Open green jacket.
Round 3 of qualifying is scheduled to begin on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. Eastern when the bowlers on C Squad hit the lanes for their final eight-game block. A Squad and B Squad will follow at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern, respectively. All qualifying squads will bowl on fresh oil.
At the end of competition on Thursday, all athletes will have completed 24 games of qualifying over three days on three different lane conditions.
That’s when the first cut will be made, taking the field from 108 bowlers down to 36. The advancing athletes will bowl a fourth eight-game block on the tournament’s fourth oil pattern on Friday morning starting at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Pinfall totals for 32 games will determine the 24 players who earn the right to compete in three rounds of round-robin match play, and 56-game totals, including 30 bonus pins for each win during match play, will decide the final five bowlers for the stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live on The CW on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern.
Last year, EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, who sits in 16th place with 3,387 heading into Round 3, defeated Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, 238-184, to capture his second U.S. Open title in three years. Tackett would reach the winner’s circle four times during the 2025 season, including twice at majors, en route to his third consecutive Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award.
Now, Tackett is looking to win for the second year in a row at Royal Pin Woodland and become the first bowler to successfully defend a U.S. Open title since Dave Husted accomplished the feat by winning the tournament in 1995 and 1996.
The 2026 U.S. Open is a collaborative effort between the United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America. The total prize fund for the event will exceed $275,000.
All qualifying and match-play rounds leading up to the stepladder finals will be broadcast live on BowlTV.
CLICK HERE for more information about the U.S. Open.
FULL RESULTS
INDIANAPOLIS – Matt Sanders of Evansville, Indiana, holds the overall lead after two rounds of qualifying at the 2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open, which is taking place at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis.
The 32-year-old left-hander posted an eight-game score of 1,810 on Wednesday afternoon thanks to games of 204, 216, 210, 224, 247, 276, 188 and 245. That mark, combined with the 1,726 he authored during Round 1 on Tuesday, gave Sanders a two-day, 16-game total of 3,536 (a 221 average), which is good enough for first place in the 108-player field heading into Thursday’s final eight-game qualifying block.
Ethan Fiore of Valrico, Florida, and Malaysia’s Tun Hakim are tied for second place just two pins back at 3,534 – Hakim is currently the only bowler to have rolled a perfect game at this year’s tournament, which came during Game 5 of Round 1 on Tuesday.
Opening-round leader Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, sits fourth with 3,529 while Michael Davidson of Versailles, Ohio, is fifth at 3,500.
The spot on every athlete’s mind, however, is 36th because that is the lowest position in the standings a bowler can occupy to survive the first cut and advance to Cashers’ Round competition on Friday.
Currently, 36th place is held by 2011 United States Bowling Congress Masters champion Tom Hess of Granger, Iowa. He got there thanks to a 16-game mark of 3,301 (a 206.31 average), which included 1,705 on Day 1 and 1,596 on Wednesday.
Sanders’ two rounds have been much more consistent, and that’s why the 2017 Professional Bowlers Association Rookie of the Year appears poised to record his fifth top-25 finish in the last six years at bowling’s most prestigious major championship.
Nevertheless, Sanders isn’t taking anything for granted heading into Thursday’s final eight games of qualifying.
“Being in the position I’m in right now might make things a little bit easier, but I’m trying not to think about that too much,” Sanders said. “Obviously, I still want to get as many pins as possible, so I’m just going to go in with the same mindset as the first two days, take it one frame at a time and see what we can get.”
Sanders added plenty of pins to his total while taking on the 47-foot Round 2 oil pattern on Wednesday, and he thinks that happened because of something he noticed during the U.S. Open’s official practice session two days earlier.
“I saw that there might be a good shot on the inside part of the lane on the long pattern, so I had a couple bowling balls lined up that I thought would work; luckily, they did,” Sanders said. “I stayed patient and got pretty fortunate to stay out of trouble the first two or three games when the lanes were tough, and then I got most of my pins during the back half of the block.”
But Sanders’ success can’t be chalked up to strategy alone; he also just always seems to be at his best when he hits the lanes at Royal Pin Woodland.
“There’s something about this place,” Sanders said. “I made my second ever PBA TV show here, and I’ve made match play at the last several U.S. Opens in this building. Maybe it’s a matchup thing, or it might just be because I’m comfortable here since I’m pretty close to home. I guess it all just adds up.”
If the trend continues over the next four days, it could result in Sanders collecting his second PBA title and first career major, a $100,000 first-place check and the coveted U.S. Open green jacket.
Round 3 of qualifying is scheduled to begin on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. Eastern when the bowlers on C Squad hit the lanes for their final eight-game block. A Squad and B Squad will follow at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern, respectively. All qualifying squads will bowl on fresh oil.
At the end of competition on Thursday, all athletes will have completed 24 games of qualifying over three days on three different lane conditions.
That’s when the first cut will be made, taking the field from 108 bowlers down to 36. The advancing athletes will bowl a fourth eight-game block on the tournament’s fourth oil pattern on Friday morning starting at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Pinfall totals for 32 games will determine the 24 players who earn the right to compete in three rounds of round-robin match play, and 56-game totals, including 30 bonus pins for each win during match play, will decide the final five bowlers for the stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live on The CW on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern.
Last year, EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, who sits in 16th place with 3,387 heading into Round 3, defeated Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, 238-184, to capture his second U.S. Open title in three years. Tackett would reach the winner’s circle four times during the 2025 season, including twice at majors, en route to his third consecutive Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award.
Now, Tackett is looking to win for the second year in a row at Royal Pin Woodland and become the first bowler to successfully defend a U.S. Open title since Dave Husted accomplished the feat by winning the tournament in 1995 and 1996.
The 2026 U.S. Open is a collaborative effort between the United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America. The total prize fund for the event will exceed $275,000.
All qualifying and match-play rounds leading up to the stepladder finals will be broadcast live on BowlTV.
CLICK HERE for more information about the U.S. Open.