Tackett tops Anderson, becomes 13th player to win multiple U.S. Open titles
February 03, 2025
EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, kisses the iconic eagle trophy shortly after defeating No. 1 seed Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, 238-184, on Sunday to win the 2025 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling, which was contested at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis. The victory gave Tackett his second career U.S. Open title.
SEEDS NO. 1-4 STEPLADDER RESULTS
INDIANAPOLIS – Two years ago, EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, dominated the field at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis, leading qualifying, earning the top seed for the stepladder finals and topping Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina, 221-208, during the title match to win his first U.S. Open title.
This year’s tournament may not have gone as smoothly, but the end result was the same as Tackett defeated No. 1 seed Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, by a score of 238-184 during Sunday’s live stepladder finals on FOX to win the 2025 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling – also contested at Royal Pin Woodland – and become just the 13th player in history to record multiple U.S. Open victories.
For his efforts, Tackett was rewarded with his second green jacket, the iconic eagle trophy and the U.S. Open’s $100,000 first-place prize.
Anderson, who led this year’s tournament nearly wire to wire prior to the stepladder finals, took home $50,000 for finishing second.
The title match appeared to be trending in Anderson’s favor early on as the 29-year-old right-hander started with strikes in three of his first four frames while Tackett managed just one strike and three spares during that same stretch.
The 2023 U.S. Open champion would turn up the heat from there, however, rattling off a four-bagger in frames five through eight.
Anderson, meanwhile, left the 1-5-7-8 in the fifth frame and the 3-4-6-7 split in the eighth, both of which resulted in open frames.
The top seed never gave in, but the deficit was simply too big to overcome, and when Tackett ran his string of strikes to five by getting all 10 pins to fall in the ninth frame, the match was over, and Tackett had officially become a two-time U.S. Open champion.
Even though the 32-year-old right-hander already knew what it felt like to don the green jacket and hoist the trophy after winning on the same pair of lanes in the same building just two years before, the magnitude of Sunday’s achievement still hit Tackett hard after the title match.
“This is really emotional for me, just for different reasons,” Tackett said. “Two years ago, I was able to win here and complete that comeback after having a big lead and losing on the TV show the year before. This one, winning the U.S. Open as a dad now is a completely different emotion.
“I know I won the World Championships last year when Tripp was there, but this is the U.S. Open. It’s a grind. It’s hard physically, mentally and emotionally. To win two of them, it’s pretty special.”
Tackett experienced that grind firsthand at this year’s tournament.
At the end of Wednesday’s second round of qualifying, it seemed unlikely that he would even make the cut to match play as he was 185 pins behind the cut line in 78th place.
It would have been easy for Tackett to give up and accept the fact that it just wasn’t going to be his week; however, throughout his Professional Bowlers Association Tour career, the powerful right-hander has proven that once he figures it out, he can strike as much or more than anyone, and that’s precisely what he did from that point forward.
He averaged just under 234 during his final eight-game qualifying block on Thursday to make the cut in 22nd place – 24 players advanced.
He continued the dominant run during the three rounds of match play that followed as he authored a field-best 18-6 record and averaged just under 233 over the course of those 24 games to climb all the way up to the No. 2 spot in the standings.
The only person Tackett was unable to chase down prior to the stepladder finals was Anderson.
Tackett’s thrilling three-day run at the end of qualifying and throughout match play delighted the spectators in attendance at Royal Pin Woodland and those watching the livestream of the event on BowlTV, but it didn’t really surprise any of the 107 other bowlers competing in this year’s tournament, nor did it surprise Tackett himself.
Still, even Tackett had to concede that a comeback performance of that magnitude would have been unlikely in years past.
“I’ve never questioned my ability, and I’ve had blocks like that where I’ve done something cool, but I don’t think I could’ve made a run like this earlier in my career,” Tackett said. “But I talked to one of my sponsors prior to match play and told him that I was going to get to third, and I ended up having to say sorry for lying because I ended up qualifying second. The last couple of years has definitely given me that belief and that confidence that I can step up and do what I need to do to make a cut, win a match or win a title.”
That confidence has yielded tangible results as Tackett came to the 2023 U.S. Open with some people still questioning whether or not he could get the job done on bowling’s biggest stages.
Since that time, he’s collected two U.S. Open titles, four total majors and two PBA Player of the Year awards, all of which renders that question asked and answered.
In addition to increased confidence, Tackett also credits his recent success to only focusing on the things he can control.
“All I can ask of myself is to do my best to perform well in these situations; whether I win or not really isn’t in my control,” Tackett said. “If I can perform well, I can always keep my head held high and know that I did everything I could regardless of the outcome.”
Tackett certainly performed well during his two TV matches on Sunday.
One match prior to taking down Anderson for the title, Tackett looked poised to flirt with perfection as he started with seven strikes in a row during his semifinal match against No. 3 seed Chris Via of Blacklick, Ohio, the 2021 U.S. Open champion.
Tackett’s run at 300 ended abruptly when he left a pocket 7-10 split in the eighth frame; however, it did nothing to put the outcome of the match in jeopardy as Tackett already held a sizable lead and would cruise to a 245-152 victory.
Via earned $25,000 for his third-place finish.
One match earlier, Via topped 2016 and 2019 U.S. Open champ Francois Lavoie of Wichita, Kansas, by a score of 238-226 to earn his shot at Tackett.
Lavoie kicked off the stepladder by using a late six-bagger to defeat 2022 U.S. Open winner Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, 246-206.
Lavoie finished in fourth place and earned $16,000 while Simonsen took home $10,000 for finishing fifth.
Action at the 2025 U.S. Open kicked off on Sunday, Jan. 26, when more than 100 bowlers competed in an eight-game pre-tournament qualifier to earn the final spots in this year’s U.S. Open field of 108 bowlers.
The tournament’s official practice sessions took place on Jan. 27 with three eight-game qualifying rounds and 24 games of head-to-head match play following from Jan. 28-Feb. 1.
After the completion of Saturday morning’s final eight-game round of match play, the top nine bowlers advanced to this year’s two U.S. Open stepladder finals broadcasts.
The first show featured seeds No. 5-9 battling it out on FS1 on Saturday and saw Simonsen defeat Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida, by a score of 233-211 to earn the No. 5 seed for Sunday’s final stepladder.
The 2025 U.S. Open was a collaborative effort between the United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and was considered a major on the PBA Tour. The total prize fund for the event exceeded $275,000.
For more information about the U.S. Open, CLICK HERE.
SEEDS NO. 1-4 STEPLADDER RESULTS
INDIANAPOLIS – Two years ago, EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, dominated the field at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis, leading qualifying, earning the top seed for the stepladder finals and topping Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina, 221-208, during the title match to win his first U.S. Open title.
This year’s tournament may not have gone as smoothly, but the end result was the same as Tackett defeated No. 1 seed Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan, by a score of 238-184 during Sunday’s live stepladder finals on FOX to win the 2025 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling – also contested at Royal Pin Woodland – and become just the 13th player in history to record multiple U.S. Open victories.
For his efforts, Tackett was rewarded with his second green jacket, the iconic eagle trophy and the U.S. Open’s $100,000 first-place prize.
Anderson, who led this year’s tournament nearly wire to wire prior to the stepladder finals, took home $50,000 for finishing second.
The title match appeared to be trending in Anderson’s favor early on as the 29-year-old right-hander started with strikes in three of his first four frames while Tackett managed just one strike and three spares during that same stretch.
The 2023 U.S. Open champion would turn up the heat from there, however, rattling off a four-bagger in frames five through eight.
Anderson, meanwhile, left the 1-5-7-8 in the fifth frame and the 3-4-6-7 split in the eighth, both of which resulted in open frames.
The top seed never gave in, but the deficit was simply too big to overcome, and when Tackett ran his string of strikes to five by getting all 10 pins to fall in the ninth frame, the match was over, and Tackett had officially become a two-time U.S. Open champion.
Even though the 32-year-old right-hander already knew what it felt like to don the green jacket and hoist the trophy after winning on the same pair of lanes in the same building just two years before, the magnitude of Sunday’s achievement still hit Tackett hard after the title match.
“This is really emotional for me, just for different reasons,” Tackett said. “Two years ago, I was able to win here and complete that comeback after having a big lead and losing on the TV show the year before. This one, winning the U.S. Open as a dad now is a completely different emotion.
“I know I won the World Championships last year when Tripp was there, but this is the U.S. Open. It’s a grind. It’s hard physically, mentally and emotionally. To win two of them, it’s pretty special.”
Tackett experienced that grind firsthand at this year’s tournament.
At the end of Wednesday’s second round of qualifying, it seemed unlikely that he would even make the cut to match play as he was 185 pins behind the cut line in 78th place.
It would have been easy for Tackett to give up and accept the fact that it just wasn’t going to be his week; however, throughout his Professional Bowlers Association Tour career, the powerful right-hander has proven that once he figures it out, he can strike as much or more than anyone, and that’s precisely what he did from that point forward.
He averaged just under 234 during his final eight-game qualifying block on Thursday to make the cut in 22nd place – 24 players advanced.
He continued the dominant run during the three rounds of match play that followed as he authored a field-best 18-6 record and averaged just under 233 over the course of those 24 games to climb all the way up to the No. 2 spot in the standings.
The only person Tackett was unable to chase down prior to the stepladder finals was Anderson.
Tackett’s thrilling three-day run at the end of qualifying and throughout match play delighted the spectators in attendance at Royal Pin Woodland and those watching the livestream of the event on BowlTV, but it didn’t really surprise any of the 107 other bowlers competing in this year’s tournament, nor did it surprise Tackett himself.
Still, even Tackett had to concede that a comeback performance of that magnitude would have been unlikely in years past.
“I’ve never questioned my ability, and I’ve had blocks like that where I’ve done something cool, but I don’t think I could’ve made a run like this earlier in my career,” Tackett said. “But I talked to one of my sponsors prior to match play and told him that I was going to get to third, and I ended up having to say sorry for lying because I ended up qualifying second. The last couple of years has definitely given me that belief and that confidence that I can step up and do what I need to do to make a cut, win a match or win a title.”
That confidence has yielded tangible results as Tackett came to the 2023 U.S. Open with some people still questioning whether or not he could get the job done on bowling’s biggest stages.
Since that time, he’s collected two U.S. Open titles, four total majors and two PBA Player of the Year awards, all of which renders that question asked and answered.
In addition to increased confidence, Tackett also credits his recent success to only focusing on the things he can control.
“All I can ask of myself is to do my best to perform well in these situations; whether I win or not really isn’t in my control,” Tackett said. “If I can perform well, I can always keep my head held high and know that I did everything I could regardless of the outcome.”
Tackett certainly performed well during his two TV matches on Sunday.
One match prior to taking down Anderson for the title, Tackett looked poised to flirt with perfection as he started with seven strikes in a row during his semifinal match against No. 3 seed Chris Via of Blacklick, Ohio, the 2021 U.S. Open champion.
Tackett’s run at 300 ended abruptly when he left a pocket 7-10 split in the eighth frame; however, it did nothing to put the outcome of the match in jeopardy as Tackett already held a sizable lead and would cruise to a 245-152 victory.
Via earned $25,000 for his third-place finish.
One match earlier, Via topped 2016 and 2019 U.S. Open champ Francois Lavoie of Wichita, Kansas, by a score of 238-226 to earn his shot at Tackett.
Lavoie kicked off the stepladder by using a late six-bagger to defeat 2022 U.S. Open winner Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas, 246-206.
Lavoie finished in fourth place and earned $16,000 while Simonsen took home $10,000 for finishing fifth.
Action at the 2025 U.S. Open kicked off on Sunday, Jan. 26, when more than 100 bowlers competed in an eight-game pre-tournament qualifier to earn the final spots in this year’s U.S. Open field of 108 bowlers.
The tournament’s official practice sessions took place on Jan. 27 with three eight-game qualifying rounds and 24 games of head-to-head match play following from Jan. 28-Feb. 1.
After the completion of Saturday morning’s final eight-game round of match play, the top nine bowlers advanced to this year’s two U.S. Open stepladder finals broadcasts.
The first show featured seeds No. 5-9 battling it out on FS1 on Saturday and saw Simonsen defeat Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida, by a score of 233-211 to earn the No. 5 seed for Sunday’s final stepladder.
The 2025 U.S. Open was a collaborative effort between the United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and was considered a major on the PBA Tour. The total prize fund for the event exceeded $275,000.
For more information about the U.S. Open, CLICK HERE.