Girard, Smallwood close with strikes to reach fi nals
Jason Belmonte set a major event record Thursday night in qualifying at the top for Sunday’s PBA Barbasol Players Championship finals, but few folks were paying attention because of the drama going on beneath him.
Canadian Patrick Girard and Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan, were in the process of clawing their way into the fiveplayer Sunday finals, both needing strikes in their final frame to grab fourth and fifth, respectively. For Smallwood, the 2005 World Challenge champion, it meant he’s headed to a televised singles show for a 16th time.
But for Girard, who has no tournament wins, it will be just his third trip to the show, and first since 2005. In the wake of delivering in the clutch Thursday night at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, he believed intervention was involved.
“I mean, my mother died nine years ago, and on my way from Indianapolis (the site of last week’s tourney) to here, I kind of talked to her a little bit while driving,” Girard said. “‘I want a show, I want to be back on TV.’ I don’t know if it’s her or not, but I do believe it is, so I’m really happy.”
He had to shoot a 221 in the last game of the 30 he rolled this week to make it happen, and said an ongoing conversation with Sean Ryan of Ebonite International helped him through it.
“I felt nervous. My heart was beating so fast, and it felt like it was taking forever for me to go bowl,” Girard said. “But when I got to the lane I got to the right spot in my mind and I shot some great shots when I needed to.”
He and Smallwood — his 182 actually was a remarkable comeback in a final game that saw him with three open frames — were able to hold off the rebounding Bill O’Neill. That closed out the top five that included No.2 Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington, and No.3 Kris Prather of Milton, Florida.
Not that any of them threatened defending champion Belmonte through the three days. The Australian’s 30-game average of 244.57 was the best in PBA history in qualifying for the finals. It topped the previous mark of 243.89 set by Rhino Page in the 2015 Tournament of Champions.
“Oh, wow,” Belmonte said when informed of the record. But he added, “My job is to strike. So to strike more than any other person in qualifying for a major is really, really cool for me.
“But ultimately I need to strike one more game.”
“I felt nervous. My heart was beating so fast, and it felt like it was taking forever for me to go bowl.”
—Patrick Girard
He referred to the finals Sunday when he will watch the others go at it on the stepladder before he gets a chance to grab a piece of another record. He’s one major championship short of the PBA-record 10 won by Pete Weber and the late Earl Anthony.
Belmonte also will be favored in the Mark Roth/Marshall PBA Doubles Championship on Sunday with his partner, O’Neill. Thus far the tournament has run concurrent with the Players, the competitors bowling in different groups with their raw pinfall sums determining the order.
But the top 14 teams, led by Belmonte-O’Neill, will begin a true doubles format late Friday morning. The teammates will bowl alternate frames to determine the top five for Sunday’s 5 p.m. finals following the Players finals at 1:30 p.m. (ESPN).