Duke Wins 36th Title at Dick Weber PBA Playoffs

Norm Duke of Clermont, FL, won a hall of fame strikefest with Parker Bohn III of Jackson, NJ, Sunday night to win the Dick Weber Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Playoffs presented by Hammer at Woodland Bowl and secure his 36th career title, third best in PBA Tour history.

Duke’s third victory of the 2010-11 season also put him into the thick of the PBA Player of the Year race with only the PBA Tournament of Champions (TOC) remaining on the schedule. The TOC will be conducted April 9-15 at Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas.

Duke put on a stunning performance Sunday, including his 836-766 victory over Bohn, a 32-time PBA Tour title and a fellow PBA Hall of Famer.

“If you would have told me this morning I would shoot 800 in the title match, I’d have said I was going to win the title,” Duke said, “but I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Just like he had done in three previous elimination rounds, Duke started his match against Bohn with nine strikes for a 289 game and a 60-pin lead with two games to go. It was too much for Bohn to overcome, even though he answered with games of 279 and 258 for his 766 series. Duke followed his 289 with games of 268 and 279.

“That was a match people are going to remember for awhile,” Bohn said.

Duke, a two-time PBA Player of the Year, will take his bid for a third honorary title into the Tournament of Champions, a tournament he last won in 1994.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve won the TOC, but I’d like to do something about that,” Duke said. “It’s a very, very difficult tournament to win, but I’ve been training hard and I live for the majors. I’m ready.”

Four other contenders in the PBA Player of the Year race – two-time 2011-12 title winners Jason Belmonte of Australia, Osku Palermaa of Finland and Mike Fagan of Dallas along with five-time U.S. Open champion Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO – were eliminated earlier Sunday.

Duke’s march to the title match began in the Regional Championships round when he struck on 17 of his first 19 shots, racing away from Michael Haugen Jr. of Carefree, AZ, to win the Southwest Region championship, 792-616.

In the Conference Championship round he defeated Bryon Smith of Roseburg, OR, 751-657, and he advanced to the championship match with a 789 series in the semifinal round. Bohn won the second spot in the title match with a 632 series, edging Sweden’s Martin Larsen by 14 pins.

With his 37 career title, Duke broke a tie with Pete Weber for third on the PBA Tour titles list. Walter Ray Williams Jr. is the all-time leader with 47 titles and the late Earl Anthony is second with 43.

The PBA playoffs involved six groups of PBA Tour, Senior Tour and regional players bowling a series of elimination rounds. Champions from six Regional groups advanced through Regional and Conference Championship rounds leading up to the semifinals and championship rounds. All rounds of the final Xtra Frame Tour event of the season were webcast live on the PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

DICK WEBER PBA PLAYOFFS PRESENTED BY HAMMER
Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Sunday

CHAMPIONSHIP (three games)

Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla. ($20,000) def. Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J. ($10,000), 836-766.
SEMIFINAL ROUND (three games, top 2 of 3 advance to championship match)
Duke 789, Bohn 632, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 618 ($5,000).

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS (three games, players eliminated earned $2,500):
Eastern Conference Championship (winner advanced to semifinal round)
Bohn def. Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 734-657.

Midwestern Conference Championship (winner advanced to semifinal round)
Larsen def. Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 725-655.

Western Conference Championship (winner advanced to semifinal round)
Duke def. Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 751-657.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (three games, players eliminated earned $1,700):
East Region (winner advanced to Eastern Conference Championship)

Bohn def. Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 642-630.

South Region (winner advanced to Eastern Conference Championship)

Rash def. Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 697-690.

Central Region (winner advanced to Midwest Conference Championship)

Malott def. Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 624-575.

Midwest Region (winner advanced to Midwest Conference Championship)

Larsen def. Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., 748-669.

Southwest Region (winner advanced to Western Conference Championship)

Duke def. Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 792-616.

West/Northwest Region (winner advanced to Western Conference Championship)Smith def. Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 750-694.

ROUND FOUR (five games; players eliminated earned $1,400): 

East Region (top 2 of 4 advanced to Regional Championships)
1, Kretzer, 1,174. 2, Bohn, 1,156.
Did not advance:

3, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 1,130.
4, Rick Graham, Lancaster, Pa., 1,082.

South Region (top 2 of 4 advanced to Regional Championships)
1, Rash, 1,241. 2, Jurek, 1,150.
Did not advance:

3, Dom Barrett, England, 1,141.
4, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,101.

Central Region (top 2 of 4 advanced to Regional Championships)
1, Malott, 1,239. 2, Himmler, 1,032.
Did not advance:

3, Pete Weber, St. Ann, MO, 1,029.
4, Jeff Zaffino, Warren, Pa., 1,019.

Midwest Region (top 2 of 4 advanced to Regional Championships)
1, O'Neill, 1,214. 2, Larsen, 1,179.
Did not advance:

3, Mike Fagan, Dallas, Texas, 1,167.
4, Kevin Andes, Wichita, Kan., 1,009.

Southwest Region (top 2 of 4 advanced to Regional Championships)
1, Haugen, 1,236. 2, Duke, 1,230.
Did not advance:

3, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 1,140.
4, Mike Bailey, Frisco, Texas, 1,122.

West/Northwest Region (top 2 of 3 advanced to Regional Championships)
1, Barnes, 1,275. 2, Smith, 1,249.
Did not advance:

3, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,084.

ROUND THREE (five games; players eliminated earned $1,200):

East Region (top 4 of 8 advanced to Round Four)
1, Bohn, 1,213. 2, Page, 1,191. 3, Kretzer, 1,190. 4, Graham, 1,179.
Did not advance:

5, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 1,138.
6, Jason Stadtler, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1,076.
7, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,070.
8, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 1,001.

South Region (top 4 of 8 advanced to Round Four)
1, Jurek, 1,249. 2, Jaros, 1,208. 3, Barrett, 1,204. 4, Rash, 1,187.
Did not advance:

5, Dan MacLelland, Saginaw, Mich., 1,145.
6, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,136.
7, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 1,129.
8, Christopher McSwain, Kings Mountain, N.C., 1,045.

Central Region (top 4 of 8 advanced to Round Four)
1, Weber, 1,219. 2, Malott, 1,210. 3, Zaffino, 1,186. 4, Himmler, 1,137.
Did not advance:

5, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,081.
6, Carleton Chambers, Detroit, 1,067.
7, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 1,052.
8, Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio, 900.

Midwest Region (top 4 of 8 advanced to Round Four)
1, Fagan, 1,229. 2, O'Neill, 1,197. 3, Andes, 1,178. 4, Larsen, 1,170.
Did not advance:

5, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 1,149.
6, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,128.
7, Walter Ray Williams Jr, Ocala, Fla., 1,097.
8, Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 1,032.

Southwest Region (top 4 of 8 advanced to Round Four)
1, Scroggins, 1,222. 2, Duke, 1,201. 3, Haugen, 1,185. 4, Bailey, 1,159.
Did not advance:

5, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1,124.
6, Rick Lawrence, Waxahachie, Texas, 1,078.
7, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 1,028.
8, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 983.

West/Northwest Region (top 3 of 6 advanced to Round Four)
1, Smith, 1,117. 2, Barnes, 1,105. 3, Gomez, 1,074.
Did not advance:

4, PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif., 1,063.

5, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,044.

6, Stuart Williams, England, 1,031.