Reyes Takes Over Lead at PBA TOC

Tony Reyes of San Bruno, CA, who won his only Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour title in 2006, averaged 225.5 in the first round of match play to take the lead in the 45th PBA Tournament of Champions (TOC) Thursday at Red Rock Lanes.

Reyes finished the fourth round with a 32-game total of 7,483 and a 5-3 match
play record to hold an 11-pin lead over PBA Hall of Famer and 1987 Tournament 
of Champions winner Pete Weber in second, and a 32-pin lead over reigning
Player of the Year Wes Malott in third.  Rhino Page, who led the first three
rounds, trails by 52 pins in fourth.

“I was struggling to start the tournament but I’m really finding a groove now,” said Reyes, who finished second in the 2007 Tournament of Champions. “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish so obviously I’m going to have to carry this momentum through tomorrow’s match play rounds.”

“It’s been awhile since I’ve won but for the last year I’ve been happy with my
game,” Weber said. “There’s no secret here but just to stay focused, stay calm
and make the right adjustments when I need to.”

Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., the only woman in the Tournament of Champions
field, finished the day in fifth with a 7,376 32-game total and a 4-3-1 match
play record.  Kulick is making a  bid to become the first woman to win a Tour
title. The best previous finish by a woman in a Tour event is second by Liz
Johnson in 2005.

The 24-player field will bowl two more eight-game match play rounds Friday,
after which the top four will advance to Sunday’s stepladder finals that will
air live on ESPN at 1 p.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Pacific).

Other past Tournament of Champions winners in the field of 24 are Jason Couch
(1999, 2000, 2002) who is trying to become the first four-time winner and is
tied for ninth with 2007 winner Tommy Jones; two-time winner Mark Williams
(1985, 1988), 11th; Chris Barnes (2006), seventh; Bryan Goebel (1998), 18th and
Wayne Webb (1980), 22nd.

All-time PBA Tour win leader Walter Ray Williams Jr., with 46 Tour titles, is in
16th and needs a Tournament of Champions win to complete PBA’s Triple
Crown, Grand Slam and Super Slam.

PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS 
Red Rock Lanes, Las Vegas, Nev.
Jan. 21, 2009

Fourth Round (after 32 games, including match play
records and bonus pins)

1, Tony Reyes, San Bruno, Calif., 5-3, 7,483
2, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 5-3, 7,472
3, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 6-2, 7,451
4, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 3-5, 7,431
5, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 4-3-1, 7,376
6, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 2-6, 7,303
7, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 6-2, 7,265
8, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 6-2, 7,263
9, Jason Couch, Clermont, FL, 5-2-1, & Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, SC, 4-4, 7,214
11, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 4-4, 7,158
12, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 4-4, 7,099
13, Dave Wodka, Chatsworth, Calif., 4-4, 7,052
14, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 4-4, 7,032
15, John Nolen, Grand Blanc, Mich., 4-4, 7,027
16, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 4-4, 7,017
17, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 2-6, 7,009
18, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 4-4, 7,005
19, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 5-3, 6,984
20, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 3-5, 6,974
21, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 2-6, 6,900
22, Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., 1-7, 6,898
23, Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, 4-4, 6,888
24, Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 4-4, 6,870