PBA Senior Sun Bowl in The Villages

Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia averaged a blistering 259.5 Sunday for a six-game record 1,557 pins and the first round lead in the PBA Senior Sun Bowl in The Villages at Spanish Springs Lanes.

Petraglia posted games of 267, 248, 268, 279, 237 and 258 to regain the record he lost earlier in the day to second-year PBA Senior Bobby Johnson of Chillicothe, Ohio. Johnson, seeking his first PBA title, put a 1,523 total on the board while bowling with the B Squad in the three-squad qualifying competition, breaking the PBA Senior Tour six-game record of 1,477 set during the 2008 Senior U.S. Open by Petraglia.

Gary Hiday of Indianapolis also topped Petraglia’s old record with a 1,480 total as 99 of the 125 players entered averaged 200 or better for the first six games.

“I didn’t know my record had been broken until after I finished,” Petraglia said. “I was just trying to knock down as many pins as I could when I had the shot. It might not be there tomorrow.”

Petraglia, now classified as a Super Senior at age 62, said he discovered a flaw in his backswing last season that has rejuvenated his game.

“The last nine or 10 events have been great,” he said. “I noticed on video last year that my backswing was about six inches too high. It was causing deceleration in my down swing. Once I got that fixed, my ball reaction opened up the lanes again.”

The Senior Sun Bowl in the Villages format calls for two more six-game qualifying blocks on Monday and Tuesday with the top 32 players advancing to round-robin match play Wednesday. Match play continues during the day Thursday with the stepladder finals championship round scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern.