Ameateur Williams Leads First Round of US Open

Amateur Fero Williams of Fairfield, Ohio, averaged 248.17
to claim the early first round lead in the 68th Lumber Liquidators 

U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone-Carolier Tuesday by 105 pins over 
a pair of South American players, Andres Gomez of Colombia and
Ildemaro Ruiz of Venezuela.

Williams, a 30-year-old former Team USA member, rolled games
of 269, 234, 268, 266, 194 and 258 on the most demanding lane  

conditions of the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, finishing his opening round with a 
1,489 total. Williams has never won a PBA title and an amateur has never won the U.S. Open.

“I want to win,” Williams said. “I didn’t come out here just to say I bowled with the great ones.
Twenty years from now, it would be great to look back and say I won the U.S. Open. That’s what
we all want as bowlers – to win a PBA title, to say that I was the best guy that one day.”

Williams has bowled in the U.S. Open the past six years, making the cashers’ round cut five times,
but never finishing among the top 24. But he also has been learning.

“What I’ve learned bowling against the pros is take your time, stay calm, every shot is critical, relax
and repeat shots,” Williams said. “When you’re an amateur, most of the conditions you bowl  
on are a lot softer. When you bowl these guys, you have to take your time and think about what 
you need to do. Patience is a virtue.”

With one-third of the field yet to complete the first round Tuesday, Gomez and Ruiz were tied with
1,384 totals. Like Williams, both are also trying for their first PBA titles. Tom Smallwoo of Saginaw, MI,
winner of the 2010 PBA World Championship and runner-up in the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions, 
was one pin behind Gomez and Ruiz.
All 384 players in the field will bowl two additional six-game qualifying rounds Wednesday and Thursday 
before the field is cut to the top 95 after 18 games for Friday morning’s eight-game cashers’ round.
The top 24 after 26 games will then advance to three eight-game round-robin match play rounds 
Friday night and Saturday.

The top six players after 50 games will advance to the unique six-player stepladder finals, starting
with two games live on ESPN2 Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern. Saturday’s winner will then join the
top three finalists for Sunday’s championship round at 3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. First prize in the 
event is $80,000. 

During U.S. Open week, pba.com’s Xtra Frame video streaming service will provide more than 70 
hours of live coverage of qualifying and match play rounds. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit  

pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

68TH LUMBER LIQUIDATORS U.S. OPEN
Brunswick Zone-Carolier, North Brunswick, NJ, Tuesday

EARLY FIRST ROUND (top 64 after 6 games; one-third of the field had yet to complete the first round)
1, Fero Williams, Fairfield, OH, 1,489.
2, (tie) Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, and Andres Gomez, Colombia, 1,384.
4, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,383.
5, (tie) Jack Laffey, Indianapolis, and Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1,361.
7, Manuel Otalora, Colombia, 1,348.
8, David Beres, Waukesha, Wis., 1,343.
9, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 1,342.
10, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 1,340.
11, Mitch Beasley, Puyallup, Wash., 1,339.
12, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 1,335.
13, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 1,333.
14, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,330.
15, Matthew O'Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 1,324.
16, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,323.
17, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,321.
18, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 1,318.
19, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 1,316.
20, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,314.
21, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 1,306.
22, Dan MacLelland, Saginaw, Mich., 1,303.
23, Scott Norton, Costa Mesa, Calif., 1,302.
24, Jacob Peters, Decatur, Ill., 1,295.
25, Blaine Weninger, Grapevine, Texas, 1,293.
26, Bobby Hall II, Landover, Md., 1,291.
27, Mark Clark, Naperville, Ill., 1,290.
28, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 1,289.
29, Dave Arnold, Dublin, Calif., 1,288.
30, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,286.
31, (tie) Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., and Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, N.Y., 1,282.
33, Jason Freeman, Maple Shade, N.J., 1,278.
34, Santiago Mejia, Colombia, 1,270.
35, (tie) Jeremy Elder, Claymont, Del., and Jason Wojnar, Chicago, 1,267.
37, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 1,266.
38, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 1,264.
39, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 1,262.
40, Kip Roberts, Glenallen, Va., 1,259.
41, Jaime Gonzalez, Colombia, 1,253.
42, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,250.
43, Mike Rose Jr., West Henrietta, N.Y., 1,248.
44, Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C., 1,247.
45, Charles Anderson, Sloatsburg, N.Y., 1,246.
46, (tie) Shannon Buchan, Waterloo, Iowa, and Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, 1,243.
48, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 1,239.
49, (tie) Juhani Tonteri, Finland, and Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 1,238.
51, Vinny D'Ambrosio III, Staten Island, N.Y., 1,236.
52, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 1,233.
53, (tie) Josh Blanchard, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; Ritchie Allen, Columbia, 
S.C., and John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 1,231.
56, (tie) Gregory Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., and Eric Cornog, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1,227.
58, Joshua McBride, Wichita, Kan., 1,225.
59, (tie) Michelle Arrington, Philadelphia; Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., and Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 1,224.
62, Alex Aguiar, Dartmouth, Mass., 1,221.
63, (tie) Will Jackson, Philadelphia, and Mason Brantley, Detroit, 1,219.