Tom Smallwood's world has gotten much larger than the one he knew last December when, just two days before Christmas, he felt the fate of so many workers in the auto industry when he lost his job at a General Motors plant. It might have been difficult to convince him at the time that that twist of fate would be the start of the greatest run of fortune he has ever known, but after securing a PBA Tour exemption at the Tour Trials in Detroit just months later, a profile in USA Today, and making his first title a major at the PBA World Championship on Dec. 13, that is precisely the fairytale that Tom Smallwood is living today. Having just defeated reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott for the $50,000 top prize and two-year exemption that was at stake at the PBA World Championship, Tom Smallwood sat down to chat with BOWL.com about his incredible journey from the fate of an unemployed assembly line worker to the top of the bowling world.

What is going through your mind knowing your first title on tour is a major and you won it in front of your family after getting laid off by GM earlier this year?

TS: It is pretty unbelievable. A lot of people are asking about the tenth frame and how nervous I was. I was already so nervous that I don't think it was possible to get any more nervous. I told myself 'You waited your whole life for this shot,' and 'Have fun, it's only bowling, so put your best effort into it. You can't take a shot back so do what you can do on every shot. Be committed to your shot before you throw it.'

It is a wild ride, it is an unbelievable ride. I am enjoying every second. I mean I never did any radio shows in my life, and I done have 5 or 6 radio shows now. It is crazy. I am a quiet person, I don't talk at all. I enjoy doing it but I am not a talker, and I am just enjoying the ride.

You were also featured in a USA Today profile recently-what was it like to get that kind of major media exposure?

TS: It was just unbelievable. We went there three weeks ago and Tom Clark, Wes Malott, Bill O'Neill and Rhino Page just kind of had a little session and I didn't know what was going on. We did some photos, and then they called me back into the room and they said they wanted to do a story on me. Everything has just been unbelievable. I have bowled for 15 years and the biggest paper I have been in is the Saturday Night News.

You had many family members in attendance today, all of whom were very emotional after you clinched the title. What is your family's response to your success?

TS: Yeah, my wife, my mom and dad, two sisters, my brother and my brother-in-law were all there. My wife keeps me on key, and my Dad's come to me and told me 'You're as good as anyone out there, go bowl!' And he is not a bowler so it's kind of funny to listen to him.

There were lots of tears and I was trying to hold them back myself, but yeah they're probably more in awe than I am. I am so cloud-nine right now and they are realizing it and I haven't yet. If you weren't asking me questions right now there'd be nothing going through my mind-I'm just lost in it all right now.

Is the fact that you defeated the reigning PBA Player of the Year and King of Bowling, Wes Malott, another added bonus for you?

TS: Well, I am not being arrogant when I say this, I think everyone would say the same thing. It doesn't matter to me. It is a one-game match, anything can happen. A best-of-seven is different, but in a one-game match you throw eight, nine or 10 good shots you're as good as anyone. He is gonna throw it great anyway, but when he got the break in the ninth I thought it was over. I figured it was probably over, he will finish me. Then he left a ten pin in tenth.

What was going through your mind when you saw that he left the door open with that nine-count in the tenth?

TS: The whole time I was just thinking 'Let me have a chance,' and you know like I said on that lane I was pretty comfortable and already nervous. The six or seven previous shots on that lane I was very nervous.

What are your plans for the $50,000 top prize?

TS: My wife probably already has it spent. We just got a new house, so we'll probably put some into that, and that's about it. I don't know.

I understand that GM recently called with an offer to bring you back, is that correct?

TS: Yes, I said 'No thanks.' They were surprised and asked why. I told them I was a pro bowler and she was like 'Whatever.' I wasn't offended, I said 'Actually I'll be on ESPN on Sunday. The girl next to her was a bowler and I talked to her for a while.

Did it feel good to turn them down?

TS: Oh, absolutely! It felt good to turn them down, and it is such a cool thing to say you're a professional bowler.

Around the time you were laid off by GM last December, did you see it coming given all the uncertainty in the auto industry or was it a surprise?

TS: We knew about a month ahead of time. There were so many rumors, so you don't put stock in any of them. You never know. First they said they would be laying off 600, and I survived that. Then they said 1, 200 and I knew I wasn't safe then, and I was right.

When did you start considering the PBA tour as a possible next career move?

TS: Just before I got laid off. That's one of those things where I wasn't too upset. Honestly I assumed I'd rather have worked instead of trying tour trials. I enjoy being home with my family. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. But if you'd have asked me 13 months ago 'Do you want be a pro bowler or work for GM I'd have stayed with GM.

It is unbelievable the way things came together. I told my wife that the day I turn 30 I am done bowling for real, done ever attempting to do tour trials. I always had a decent job and I said I am too old to do it. After 30 you're not going to start a career in bowling. We agreed. I am not really into signs or that things were meant to happen for you but it just worked out so unbelievable that the Tour Trials were going to be held in Detroit so close to where I live, along with all the World Series of Bowling events - at that time they had just announced the location of the World Series events - my wife agreed 100%, so I bowled Tour Trials and we said if that doesn't work out we will figure out what we will do. Fortunately she has a decent job, it was never life or death. She carries our insurance. Without her job we'd have been hurting.

What does your wife do?

TS: She works for two radio stations as the traffic manager.

By the time Tour Trials got started this past summer, how difficult had things gotten for you and your family since the layoff?

TS: I was fortunate. I had a good year bowling amateur stuff, so that helped out. I had a great January and February some big local stuff around and I won a bunch of it. If I would have struggled through those it would have been a very different story. I started practicing big time every day, two to three hours a day. I bowled as much as I could, practiced every day and bowled tournaments every weekend. I went straight to Vegas and made money in the high roller, won some money with the ABTs.

So you went into Tour Trials with quite a bit of confidence after these successes on the amateur circuit.

TS: Yes, absolutely. Plus I bowled three stops on the regular tour last year and finished 12th, 14th and 60th and I thought I bowled bad. I finished 12th at the Masters this year where I lost to John Nolen in match play.

When you got your exemption at tour trials this year how much of a relief was it for you personally and financially?

TS: It was a huge relief. That was the most emotional thing for me. I could just feel the relief. I had a decent lead the last day. Scores were low and they were tough. I had a 200-pin lead on 9th place and the whole time you're thinking 'Don't bowl yourself out of this.' And then about game seven I realized that I can go 120-120 and still make it. So at the end it wasn't as emotional.

I think Tour Trials is so hard and such a craps shoot. I don't think it necessarily shows your real talent and even if you make it you're not sure about yourself. It's hard for you to buy stock in the idea that you bowled good one week and because of that you deserve to be out here. But honestly if I go through the locker room and someone says I'm terrible it doesn't bother me. I am not trying to prove myself at all, I am just trying to make money for my family.