# 2009–10 PBA Tour season

This is a recap of the 2009–10 season for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour. It was the Tour's 51st season and consisted of 19 title events.

## Tournament schedule and recaps

In a cost-cutting move, the PBA held the first half of the 2009–10 season in Allen Park, Michigan (just outside Detroit) under the name "PBA World Series of Bowling". Preliminary rounds of the televised tournaments were held in August, with television tapings on Labor Day weekend (September 5–7). Qualifying for the first of the PBA's four majors, the PBA World Championship, was part of the World Series. The television finals for this event took place live in Wichita, Kansas, three months after the preliminary rounds.
With one exception, the singles events of the 2009 PBA Women's Series were all contested at the World Series.
The second half of the season followed a traditional touring format, and included a total of 14 telecasts (11 title events and 3 special non-title events). The three remaining major tournaments (PBA Tournament of Champions, USBC Masters and 67th U.S. Open) were all contested in the second half. The 2010 Japan Cup, contested April 22–25, was also a PBA title event. The final eight for this tournament competed live on Japanese television, but no U.S. TV broadcast was aired.

### World Series of Bowling (first-half) highlights

* Walter Ray Williams Jr. added to his incredible streak of consecutive seasons winning at least one tournament, as he captured the Motor City Open for his PBA-best 46th title overall. Williams, who turned 50 in October, has now won a PBA tournament in 17 straight seasons.
* Norm Duke took sole possession of 5th place on the PBA's all-time titles list, picking up his 33rd win in the Cheetah Championship.
* Bill O'Neill, a non-winner on tour despite seven TV Finals appearances in 2008–09, earned his first-ever PBA title in the Chameleon Championship.
* 46-year-old tour veteran Jack Jurek set a record for the longest drought between PBA titles when he captured his second tour win in the Shark Championship. Jurek's lone previous title had come 14 years, 175 days prior, when he won the 1995 Tums Classic. It took a sudden-death rolloff for Jurek to earn title #2, after he and Mike Fagan had tied 218–218 to end the regulation game.
* In the feel-good story of the half, rookie Tom Smallwood made the TV finals in two World Series of Bowling events, winning his first title and first major at the PBA World Championship on December 13. He defeated reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott, 244–228, in the final match. Smallwood attended the PBA Tour Trials in May, 2009, only because he had been laid off from his auto plant job in December, 2008. The Saginaw, Michigan resident finished in the Top 8 at the Tour Trials to earn a PBA Tour exemption.
* Kelly Kulick, who did not qualify for the PBA Women's Series in 2008–09, picked up two Women's Series titles—including the inaugural PBA Women's World Championship. The major championship rewarded her with a spot in the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions, where she was the first-ever female competitor in the event.
* Shannon Pluhowsky also won two Women's Series tournaments, giving her three total victories in the series.

### Second-half highlights

* The half featured four first-time PBA Tour winners: Kelly Kulick, Anthony Lacaze, Brian Kretzer and Brian Ziesig. Kulick's momentous victory in the January 24 Tournament of Champions finals over Chris Barnes, 265–195, made her the first female bowler ever to win a regular PBA Tour event. In addition, Mike Fagan won his first career singles title.
* 50-year-old Walter Ray Williams Jr. won his eighth career major, and 47th title overall, at the USBC Masters. He also picked up his seventh career PBA Player of the Year award.
* The final major of the year, the 67th U.S. Open, was won by Bill O'Neill over defending champ Mike Scroggins.
* Pete Weber ended a three-year title drought with his 35th career win at the season-ending Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open, denying top seed Mike Scroggins a Player of the Year award in the process.

### Awards

The following awards were given:
* Chris Schenkel Player of the Year: Walter Ray Williams, Jr.
* Harry Smith PBA Points Leader Award: Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (229,124)
* George Young High Average Award: Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (222.89)
* Tour Earnings Leader: Walter Ray Williams, Jr. ($152,670)
* Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award: George Lambert IV

### Tournaments

Below is a summary of the 2009–10 season. Career titles for tournament winners are shown in parentheses. (Titles shown for women are for PBA Women's Series events only.)
| Event | ESPN airdate | City | Preliminary rounds | Final round | Oil pattern | Winner | Notes |
| PBA Women's World Championship | Oct 25 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 31 – Sep 4 | Sep 6 | | Kelly Kulick (1) | First women's World Championship under PBA sanction. |
| PBA Senior World Championship | Oct 25 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 31 – Sep 4 | Sep 6 | | Harry Sullins | |
| Motor City Open | Nov 1 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 2–6 (Taylor, MI) | Sep 5 | | Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (46) | Non-exempt (open) event. |
| Cheetah Championship | Nov 8 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 11–12 | Aug 13 | Cheetah | Norm Duke (33) | Exempt event. Match-play format (best 4-of-7 through final head-to-head match). |
| Viper Championship | Nov 15 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 14–16 | Sep 5 | Viper | Men's: Rhino Page (3) Women's: Liz Johnson (2) | Exempt event. Women's Series event. |
| Chameleon Championship | Nov 22 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 18–20 | Sep 6 | Chameleon | Men's: Bill O'Neill (1) Women's: Shannon Pluhowsky (2) | Exempt event. Women's Series event. |
| Scorpion Championship | Nov 29 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 23–25 | Sep 6 | Scorpion | Men's: Mike Devaney (2) Women's: Shannon Pluhowsky (3) | Exempt event. Women's Series event. |
| Shark Championship | Dec 6 | Allen Park, MI | Aug 27–29 | Sep 6 | Shark | Men's: Jack Jurek (2) Women's: Kelly Kulick (2) | Exempt event. Women's Series event. |
| PBA World Championship | Dec 13 | Wichita, KS | Aug 30 – Sep (Allen Park, MI) | Live | | Tom Smallwood (1) | Non-exempt (open) event. First major of the season. |
| Holiday break ||||||||
| Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open | Jan 10 | Wichita, KS | Dec 7–12 | Dec 13 | Red, White, Blue | Mike Scroggins (7) | Non-exempt (open) event. |
| Earl Anthony Memorial | Jan 17 | Dublin, CA | Jan 12–16 | Live | Earl Anthony | Men's: Anthony Lacaze (1) Women's: Stefanie Nation (2) | Exempt event. Women's Series event. |
| PBA Tournament of Champions | Jan 24 | Las Vegas, NV | Jan 19–23 | Live | T of C | Kelly Kulick (1) | Invitational event. Second major of the season. |
| One-A-Day Dick Weber Open | Jan 31 | Fountain Valley, CA | Jan 26–30 | Live | Dick Weber | Mike Fagan (2) | Non-exempt (open) event. |
| Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational | Feb 7 | Kenner, LA | Sep 25 | Sep 25 | | Chris Paul and Jason Belmonte | Invitational event (non-title event). |
| USBC Masters | Feb 14 | Reno, NV | Feb 9–13 | Live | Masters | Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (47) | Open event administered by the PBA for the USBC. Third major of the season. |
| Bayer Don & Paula Carter Mixed Doubles | Feb 21 | Wheat Ridge, CO | Feb 16–20 | Live | | Brian Voss (25) and Diandra Asbaty (2) | Mixed PBA and PBA Women's Series event. |
| Lumber Liquidators 67th U.S. Open | Feb 28 | Indianapolis, IN | Feb 22–27 | Live | | Bill O'Neill (2) | Non-exempt (open) event. Fourth major of the season. |
| Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator | Mar 7 | Columbus, OH | Mar 2–6 | Live | | Mike Scroggins (8) | Exempt event. |
| Go RVing Match Play Championship | Mar 21 | Norwich, CT | Mar 17–20 | Live | | Brian Kretzer (1) | Exempt event. |
| Geico Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship | Mar 28 | West Babylon, NY | Mar 24–27 | Live | Shark, 1/3 volume | Brian Ziesig (amateur) (1) | Exempt event. Bowlers must bowl with PBA-supplied plastic bowling balls. |
| Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open | Apr 4 | Baltimore, MD | Mar 29 – Apr 3 | Live | Multiple patterns | Pete Weber (35) | Non-exempt (open) event. Players bowl on 7 patterns during qualifying. Top seed chooses pattern for TV finals. |
| PBA Experience Showdown | Apr 11 | Arlington, TX | Apr 6–8 | Apr 8 | | Rhino Page | Post-season special (non-title) event for five winners of the PBA oil-pattern championships, plus one amateur qualifier from a PBA Experience league. |
| PBA Women's Series Showdown | Apr 18 | Arlington, TX | Apr 6–8 | Apr 8 | | Michelle Feldman | Post-season special event for winners of the Women's Series championships. |
| Japan Cup 2010 | | Tokyo, Japan | Apr 22–25 | | | Tommy Jones (13) | Annual combination event with Japan PBA. |

### PBA Xtra Frame League

During the touring schedule (January – April 2010), 32 exempt bowlers competed in a traveling singles league. All matches were taped for airing on the PBA's Xtra Frame pay-per-view web video service.

### 2009-10 PBA Tour Trials

The PBA Tour Trials, which determined the eight additional exempt bowlers for the upcoming season, concluded May 31, 2009 in Allen Park, Michigan. The trials consisted of 45 games bowled over nine days on various PBA oil patterns. The eight qualifiers include:
* Joe Ciccone
* George Lambert IV
* Tom Smallwood
* Cassidy Schaub
* Mitch Beasley
* Stuart Williams
* Stevie Weber
* Tim Mack
Both Ciccone and Beasley regained exemptions they had lost by not earning enough points during the 2008–09 season. Schaub is now the second two-handed bowler (joining Jason Belmonte) to earn a PBA Tour exemption. Williams becomes the first British ten-pin bowler ever to bowl full-time on the PBA Tour.