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Jakob Butturff earns top seed for 2017 U.S. Open by stunning 617 pins, dominating even fellow lefties as Rhino Page, Wes Malott, Graham Fach, Norm Duke also make stepladder finals

JEFF RICHGELS | Posted: Tuesday, October 31, 2017 11:00 pm
Jakob Butturff earns top seed for 2017 U.S. Open by stunning 617 pins, dominating even fellow lefties as Rhino Page, Wes Malott, Graham Fach, Norm Duke also make stepladder finals
The stepladder finalists for the 2017 U.S. Open, left to right and in order from first to fifth: Jakob Butturff, Rhino Page, Wes Malott, Graham Fach and Norm Duke. Photo by United States Bowling Congress.
There is no denying that left-handers had an advantage this year that was in stark contrast to their usual disadvantage at the U.S. Open, with six lefties making the top 36, four the top 24, and three the stepladder finals It was so pronounced that the world’s best player, 2-hander Jason Belmonte, started his final round of match play throwing a back-up ball off the left side and opened with games of 221 and 248. Here is video of Belmonte rolling a back-up shot. But make no mistake:...