Tommy Jones Jumps Into Lead at US Open

Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC, overtook
Australia’s Jason Belmonte and Bill O’Neill of Southampton, PA, to take the lead in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open heading into Saturday night’s final eight games of match play at Woodland Bowl.

Jones, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, won seven of his eight matches Saturday
afternoon to jump from third place into a 98-pin lead over O’Neill and a 136-pin
margin over fifth-round leader Belmonte. Jones finished the sixth round with a
43-game total of 9,723 pins, including match play bonus pins.

Jason Couch of Clermont, FL, advanced from 10th place to fourth with a 9,553
total, but the battle for the fourth spot in Sunday’s ESPN stepladder finals was
expected to be an all-out war during Saturday night’s final round. Trailing
Couch in fifth place was defending U.S. Open champion Mike Scroggins of
Amarillo, TX, and chasing both were three PBA Hall of Famers as well as
former U.S. Open champions: Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla.; Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO, and Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, FL.

Duke, the 2008 U.S. Open winner, advanced from 17th to sixth heading into the
final round. Weber, a four-time U.S. Open winner, was 16 pins behind Duke after winning a one-game roll-off on Friday to make it into the match play field in
24th place. Williams, a two-time U.S. Open winner and the PBA Tour’s all-time
titles leader with 47 wins, was in eighth place, 23 pins behind Weber.

Williams, at age 50, is the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s only two-time winner in the 2009-10 season and is trying to become the first PBA player to win
back-to-back major championships twice. Williams won his eighth career major
title in the USBC Masters in Reno, NV, on Feb. 14. The first time he won
consecutive majors was in 2003 when he won the U.S. Open and the PBA World
Championship back-to-back.

Sunday’s stepladder finals will air live on ESPN at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. At stake
is the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s final major title of the 2009-10 season, a
$60,000 first prize and a three-year PBA Tour exemption.

67TH LUMBER LIQUIDATORS U.S. OPEN
Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Saturday, Feb. 27

SIXTH ROUND (after 43 games, including won-lost records and pinfall including
match play bonus pins)
1, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 13-3, 9,723.
2, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 9-7, 9,625.
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 7-9, 9,586.
4, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 9-7, 9,553.
5, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 10-6, 9,534.
6, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 9-7, 9,444.
7, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 10-6, 9,428.
8, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 10-6, 9,405.
9, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 7-9, 9,390.
10, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 8-7-1, 9,342.
11, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 7-9, 9,320.
12, Ronnie Russell, Camby, Ind., 10-6, 9,319.
13, Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio, 7-9, 9,268.
14, Jason Wojnar, Chicago, 9-7, 9,262.
15, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 6-10, 9,226.
16, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 8-8, 9,200.
17, Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 8-8, 9,172.
18, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 8-8, 9,160.
19, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 7-9-0, 9,122.
20, Brian LeClair, Athens, N.Y., 8-8, 9,114.
21, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 6-10, 9,087.
22, David Beres, Waukesha, Wis., 5-10-1, 9,041.
23, x-PJ Haggerty, Clovis, Calif., 4-4, 8,958.
24, Anthony Jordan, Sycamore, Ill., 6-10, 8,938.
x-Haggerty replaced Amleto Monacelli of Venezuela who withdrew at the end of
the fifth round due to injury.
300 Games – Nathan Bohr, Mitch Beasley