2017 PBA Tour season


2017 is the 58th season of the Professional Bowlers Association Tour. The 2017 schedule includes 24 singles title events, two doubles title events, and one non-title team event.

Tournament schedule and recaps

For the second year in a row, the PBA held three consecutive major tournaments in "Big February": The Barbasol PBA Players Championship, Fire Lake PBA Tournament of Champions, and the USBC Masters. The U.S. Open took place October 25 through November 1.
The season's final major, the PBA World Championship, was again part of the World Series of Bowling, which took place November 7–19 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. WSOB IX consisted of four "animal oil pattern" tournaments, each of which are standalone PBA title events while collectively serving as initial qualifying for the PBA World Championship. Total pinfall from the 40 games of animal pattern qualifying determined the 49 bowlers for the Cashers Round of the World Championship. Cashers then bowled 20 more games to determine the top five for the November 19 stepladder finals.
In April, the PBA announced the first-ever Main Event PBA Finals, held May 18–20 in Orlando, Florida and broadcast for five consecutive Tuesdays on CBS Sports Network, starting May 30. This is an invitational event that serves as a type of bowling "playoffs", similar to The Chase for the Cup in NASCAR or the FedEx Cup in PGA golf. The event featured the top eight players in PBA Tour earnings, from the start of the 2015 season through this year's USBC Masters. Players were seeded 1–8 based on earnings, and split into Group 1 and Group 2. The groups bowled a mixed roundrobin match play session of four matches each, which made up the first two broadcasts. Players were then re-seeded within their groups, based on total pinfall plus a 50 pin bonus for every match win. Group 1 and Group 2 stepladder matches were held next, and were broadcast in the third and fourth weeks. The Group 1 and Group 2 winners then faced off in the fifth and final broadcast in a three-game, total pinfall head-to-head match to determine the PBA Finals champion.
For a second straight year, the PBA kept a rolling points list for all of the season's Xtra Frame tournaments. Last season, a $10,000 winner-take-all bonus was awarded to the top points earner in the series. For 2017, the Xtra Frame series was renamed the XF PBA Tour Storm Cup, with Storm Bowling sponsoring an expanded award platform. The top points earner in 2017 won a $20,000 bonus, with additional payouts for second through fifth-place finishers. Seven tour stops made up the Storm Cup series. Two additional tournaments were also covered exclusively by Xtra Frame, but did not qualify for Xtra Frame series points.

Highlights

  • Jason Belmonte became the only player in PBA history to win three majors in a single season, as well as the only player to win the USBC Masters four times.
  • With her win at the PBA Chameleon Championship in November, Liz Johnson became the second female bowler to win an event on the national PBA Tour.

Season awards

Tournament summary

Below is a current schedule of events for the 2017 PBA Tour season. Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parentheses.
EventAirdateCityPreliminary roundsFinal roundOil patternWinnerNotes
DHC PBA Japan InvitationalJan 14 XOsaka, JapanJan 10–13LiveE. J. Tackett, USA Invitational event. ¥5 million first prize.
Barbasol PBA Players ChampionshipFeb 12 EColumbus, OHFeb 6–11LiveJason Belmonte, Australia Open event. PBA major. $40,000 top prize.
52nd Fire Lake PBA Tournament of ChampionsFeb 19 EShawnee, OKFeb 14–18LiveTOC CustomE. J. Tackett, USA Invitational event. PBA major. $50,000 top prize.
USBC MastersFeb 26 ELas Vegas, NVFeb 20–25LiveUSBC CustomJason Belmonte, Australia Open event. PBA major. $30,000 top prize.
World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s FinalsFeb 26 ELas Vegas, NV2015–16 WBT eventsLiveWomen: Danielle McEwan, USA
Men: Anthony Simonsen, USA		Top 3 men and Top 3 women in 2015–16 WBT tournament points. Non-title event. $20,000 top prize each player.
PBA Xtra Frame Reality Check ClassicMar 19 XTamarac, FLMar 17–18LiveJosh Blanchard, USA Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PBA International WBT Brunswick Euro ChallengeN/AMunich, GermanyMar 20–25Mar 26Dominic Barrett, England WBT and PBA title event. €12,500 first prize.
MaineQuarterly.com Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles ChampionshipApr 16 EPortland, MEApr 9–12LiveMark RothJesper Svensson, Sweden and Kyle Troup, USA Open event. $24,000 top prize.
L.L.Bean PBA League Elias Cup
Semis: May 7 E
Finals: May 14 E		Portland, MEApr 13–15Apr 16MultipleShipyard Dallas Strikers: Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Bill O'Neill, Rhino Page, B.J. MooreTeam event. $60,000 top prize.
Main Event PBA Tour FinalsOrlando, FLMay 18–19May 20Main Event E. J. Tackett, USA Invitational event, $30,000 top prize. Top 8 in PBA Tour earnings, Jan 2015 through Feb 2017: Jason Belmonte, E.J. Tackett, Dominic Barrett, Jesper Svensson, Anthony Simonsen, Ryan Ciminelli, Tommy Jones, Sean Rash.
PBA Xtra Frame Wilmington OpenMay 29 XWilmington, NCMay 26–28LiveAnthony Simonsen, USA Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Jonesboro OpenJun 4 XJonesboro, ARJun 2–3LiveFrançois Lavoie, Canada Open event. $12,500 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports OpenJun 11 XLubbock, TXJun 9–10LiveMarshall Kent, USA Open event. $12,500 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Billy Hardwick Memorial OpenJun 25 XMemphis, TNJun 23–24LiveLow-volume oilMatt Sanders, USA Open event, $10,000 top prize. Players limited to using two plastic bowling balls.
Grand Casino Hotel & Resort PBA Oklahoma OpenPlay-in Stepladder: Jul 1 E
Finals: Jul 2 E		Shawnee, OKJun 26 – Jul 1LiveWolf, Bear, Badger, Oklahoma.
Top seed chooses finals pattern.		Marshall Kent, USA Open event. $30,000 top prize.
Storm PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed DoublesJul 30 XHouston, TXJul 27–29LiveJason Sterner, USA and Birgit Poppler, GermanyJoint open event with PWBA. $16,000 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Chesapeake OpenAug 13 XChesapeake, VAAug 11–12LiveDick Allen, USA Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PBA International-WBT Storm Lucky Larsen MastersN/AMalmö, SwedenAug 15–26Aug 27Jason Belmonte, Australia WBT and PBA title event. 160,000 SEK top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter's Pro Shop ClassicAug 20 XMiddletown, DEAug 18–19LiveSean Rash, USA Open event. $15,000 top prize.
PBA Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Group ClassicAug 27 XColdwater, OHAug 25–26LiveRhino Page, USA Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PBA International WBT ThailandN/ABangkok, ThailandSep 30 – Oct 5Oct 6Jojoe Yannaphon, Thailand WBT and PBA title event.
฿1,000,000 top prize.
73rd U.S. OpenNov 1 CLiverpool, NYOct 25–31LiveU.S. Open Rhino Page, USA Open event. PBA major. $30,000 top prize.
PBA WSOB IX Chameleon ChampionshipDec 17 EReno, NVNov. 8, 15Nov. 18Chameleon 39Liz Johnson, USA Open event. $20,000 top prize.
PBA WSOB IX Shark ChampionshipDec 17 EReno, NVNov. 9, 15Nov. 18Shark 45Richie Teece, England Open event. $20,000 top prize.
PBA WSOB IX Cheetah ChampionshipDec 24 EReno, NVNov. 11, 16Nov. 19Cheetah 33Jesper Svensson, Sweden Open event. $20,000 top prize.
PBA WSOB IX Scorpion ChampionshipDec 24 EReno, NVNov. 12, 16Nov. 19Scorpion 42E. J. Tackett, USA Open event. $20,000 top prize.
PBA World ChampionshipDec 31 EReno, NVNov 8–9, 11–14Nov 19World ChampionshipJason Belmonte, Australia Open event for WSOB IX entrants. PBA major. $60,000 top prize.
WBT World ChampionshipsJan 7 EReno, NVSeason longNov 19Women: Diana Zavjalova, Latvia
Men: Jason Belmonte, Australia		WBT event held at WSOB.