Ryan Shafer's lead narrowed and the man who may be the world's best bowler right now moved from 14th to third in the first round of match play at the U.S. Open.
Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte started match play in 14th place and 397 pins behind Shafer but went 6-1-1 in Friday's match play block and moved up to third, just 101 pins behind.
Shafer started the block with a 170-pin lead on Mike Fagan, and ended it 85 ahead of Fagan.
Fagan's only Facebook post of the night was simple: "16 to go...still grinding...that is all."
Chris Barnes moved up from seventh to fourth, with Bill O'Neill fifth and Osku Palermaa sixth.
Missy Parkin, the first woman to make match play at the U.S. Open, fell from ninth to 15th.
With 16 games of match play on Saturday starting live on PBA's Xtra Frame webcasting service at 10 a.m. Central time, it's difficult to count any of the top 24 out: even 23rd place Dan MacLelland is theoretically in reach at 399 pins out of fourth with 16 games of bowling and 30 bonus pins for each match win at stake.
With the low scoring pace on the flat U.S. Open pattern, anyone can train wreck and just a few good to big games can make up a ton of ground.
Josh Blanchard, who fell from 13th to 20th Friday night, may have said it best on Facebook: "That was the hardest pattern I have ever seen in bowling history!! Wow what a night. 16 more tomorrow to try and make a run."
Belmonte's move might surprise some who would theorize that the mega-revving two-hander would be unable to play on the fresh flat pattern that is put down for each match play block.
But Belmonte, who was the qualifying leader at last year's U.S. Open but missed the TV finals, has solidified his game so much in the past year that nothing seems to slow him down.
As I wrote after he rolled a 300 on TV in capturing the PBA World Championship Aulby Division Finals show, Belmonte and Sean Rash are two guys who have quite visibly improved their games this season — they post pretty much every shot and are much more stable at release.
The CATS data for Belmo's first several shots of that 300 was stunning as it illustrated an amazing combination of power and accuracy (actually shorthand for shotmaking consistency in all phases, not just hitting a board).
Bowling has always been a game of balancing power and accuracy — sometimes favoring power and sometimes favoring accuracy. More power usually means less accuracy and those who get more of the former while losing less of the latter have been the best. And the very best are those who can move around on that scale, like Norm Duke.
What blew me away was seeing how little accuracy Belmo was giving up in that 300.
That's a combination that will deliver success on any condition, even the brutality of the U.S.Open.
Shafer remained on top as he seeks to end his major tourney heartbreak on Sunday when the top four advance to the stepladder finals on ESPN live at 2 p.m. Central time.
“I just have to avoid having bad games,” he said in this PBA news release. “I had one tonight. I made some bad decisions. I have to avoid that tomorrow.
69TH U.S. OPEN
BrunswickZone-Carolier, North Brunswick, N.J., Friday
FIFTH ROUND
(after 34 games, including match play bonus pins)
1, Ryan Shafer,Horseheads,N.Y., 4-4, 7,592.
2, Mike Fagan, Dallas, 5-3, 7,507.
3, Jason Belmonte,Australia, 6-1-1, 7,491.
4, Chris Barnes, Double Oak,Texas, 4-4, 7,401.
5, Bill O'Neill,Southampton,Pa., 5-3, 7,386.
6,Osku Palermaa,Finland, 6-2, 7,290.
7, John Janawicz,Winter Haven,Fla., 4-4, 7,268.
8, Rhino Page,Dade City,Fla., 3-3-2, 7,212.
9,Ronnie Russell,Marion,Ind., 5-3, 7,201.
10 (tie),RonNelson Jr.,Bridgeview,Ill., 3-4-1, and P.J. Sonday,Luzerne,Pa., 5-3, 7,200.
12, Jesse Buss,Wichita,Kan., 3-5, 7,189.
13, Pete Weber,St. Ann,Mo., 3-5, 7,179.
14, Jason Couch,Clermont,Fla., 3-5, 7,161.
15, Missy Parkin,Lake Forest,Calif., 4-4, 7,150.
16, Dino Castillo,Carrollton,Texas, 4-4, 7,144.
17, Brian Kretzer,Dayton,Ohio, 4-4, 7,135.
18, Norm Duke,Clermont,Fla., 3-5, 7,100.
19, Anthony LaCaze,Melrose Park,Ill., 4-4, 7,070.
20, Josh Blanchard,Gilbert,Ariz., 3-5, 7,055.
21, Rusty Thomsen,Morgan,N.J., 4-4, 7,051.
22, Brian LeClair,Athens,N.Y., 4-4, 7,045.
23, Dan MacLelland,Canada, 3-5, 7,002.
24, Marshall Kent,Yakima,Wash., 2-6, 6,929.
OTHER CASHERS
(after 24 games)
25,Kimmo Lehtonen,Finland, 5,371, $2,300.
26, Sean Rash,Montgomery,Ill., 5,365, $2,200.
27, Joe Ciccone,Buffalo,N.Y., 5,362, $2,100.
28, David Stouffer,Fort Myers,Fla., 5,358, $2,050.
29, Eugene McCune,Munster,Ind., 5,350, $2,000.
30, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree,Ariz., 5,344, $1,950.
31, Storm DeVincent,Westford,Mass., 5,331, $1,900.
32 (tie),Juhani Tonteri,Finland, and Jack Jurek,Lackawanna,N.Y., 5,322, $1,825.
34 (tie), Steve Rogers,Manteno,Ill., andMika Koivuniemi,Finland, 5,318, $1,725.
36, Chris Loschetter,Avon,Ohio, 5,316, $1,650.
37, Matthew O'Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 5,314, $1,600.
38, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel,Fla., 5,311, $1,580.
39, Lonnie Waliczek,Wichita,Kan., 5,307, $1,560.
40, Nathan Bohr,Wichita,Kan., 5,302, $1,550.
41, Jon Van Hees,Charlestown,R.I., 5,300, $1,540.
42, Brian Valenta,Lockport,Ill., 5,290, $1,530.
43 (tie), Andres Gomez,Colombia, and Dom Barrett,England, 5,287, $1,515.
45, Jake Peters,Decatur,Ill., 5,283, $1,500.
46, Kelly Kulick,Union,N.J., 5,280, $1,490.
47, Mike Edwards,Tulsa,Okla., 5,279, $1,480.
48, Ryan Ciminelli,Cheektowaga,N.Y., 5,274, $1,470.
49, Mitch Beasley,Clarksville,Tenn., 5,273, $1,460.
50, Tony Ament,Monroe,N.J., 5,271, $1,450.
51, Brad Angelo,Lockport,N.Y., 5,264, $1,440.
52, Chris Warren,Grants Pass,Ore., 5,259, $1,430.
53, Michael Steil,Wheeling,Ill., 5,244, $1,420.
54, Shannon Buchan,Waterloo,Iowa, 5,243, $1,410.
55, Mike Wolfe,New Albany,Ind., 5,241, $1,400.
56, John Furey,East Windsor,N.J., 5,234, $1,390.
57, Mike Dole, Chicago, 5,232, $1,380.
58, Mike Scroggins,Amarillo,Texas, 5,222, $1,370.
59 (tie), Doug Kent,Newark,N.Y., and Wes Malott,Pflugerville,Texas, 5,221, $1,355.
61, Kamron Doyle,Brentwood,Tenn., 5,220, $1,340.
62, Martin Larsen,Sweden, 5,216, $1,330.
63, Daniel Farish,Louisville,Ky., 5,213, $1,320.
64, Scott Newell,Deland,Fla., 5,211, $1,310.
65, Tommy Jones,Simpsonville,S.C., 5,207, $1,300.
66,Amleto Monacelli,Venezuela, 5,205, $1,290.
67,TomBaker, King, N.C., 5,204, $1,280.
68, Stuart Williams,England, 5,202, $1,270.
69, William Guszczo,Orland Park,Ill., 5,195, $1,260.
70, Dick Allen,Columbia,S.C., 5,190, $1,250.
71,Kenneth Lane,Rosedale,Md., 5,188, $1,240.
72, Kurt Pilon,Warren,Mich., 5,184, $1,230.
73, Patrick Girard,Canada, 5,180, $1,220.
74, Walter Ray Williams Jr.,Ocala,Fla., 5,179, $1,210.
75, Sean Riccardi,Piscataway,N.J., 5,166, $1,200.
76, Lee Vanderhoef,Greenville,S.C., 5,163, $1,190.
77, George Branham III,Indianapolis, 5,160, $1,180.
78, John Petraglia,Jackson,N.J., 5,149, $1,170.
79, Paul Pinto,Philadelphia, 5,142, $1,160.
80 (tie), James Wallace,Hicksville,N.Y., and Rob Gotterbarn, Garden City South, N.Y., 5,140, $1,145.
82, Adam Chase,Seaford,N.Y., 5,136, $1,130.
83, John Szczerbinski,North Tonawanda,N.Y., 5,134, $1,120.
84, Matt Taylor,Knightdale,N.C., 5,130, $1,110.
85, Stephen Pavlinko,Sewell,N.J., 5,124, $1,100.
86, David Kilts,New York, 5,123, $1,090.
87, Carleton Chambers,Detroit, 5,119, $1,080.
88, Alex Cavagnaro,Massapequa,N.Y., 5,118, $1,070.
89, Mike Rose Jr., WestHenrietta,N.Y., 5,101, $1,060.
90, Stephen Haas,Enola,Pa., 5,095, $1,050.
91, T.J. Schmidt,Osceola,Ind., 5,080, $1,040.
92, Wayne Garber,Modesto,Calif., 5,075, $1,030.
93, Joe Goldstein Sr.,Hayward,Calif., 5,073, $1,020.
94, Billy Pautz,St. Peter,Minn., 5,060, $1,010.
95, Dan Furman,Amsterdam,N.Y., 5,058, $1,000.
96,ChadRoberts,Reynoldsburg,Ohio, 5,057, $1,000.
97, Brandon Tarabek,ClevelandHts.,Ohio, 5,053, $1,000.
98, Jeremy Boyer,Desloge,Mo., 5,031, $1,000.
