Professional Bowlers Association

Power was the name of the game in the $100,000 Firestone Tournament of Champions.

JIM GODMAN is the name of the champion.

The 23-year-old Godman started strong and finished stronger as he won professional bowling's richest prize, $25,000, at the Riviera Lanes in Akron, Ohio.

Power . . . Godman was a respectable eighth after the first day of the tournament.

Power . . . Godman registered a sensational 20-4-0 record in match play, including 13 straight wins, which gave him a 170-pin margin over his nearest rival and seeded him No. 1 in the finals.

Power . . . Godman exploded for seven straight strikes in the title match and registered an awesome 266 to gain bowling's most coveted crown.

Godman told newsmen, "It was the biggest thrill of my life. I just had to do what I had been doing all year . . . throwing the ball hard and keeping a good tight line."

Godman; Dave Soutar; Jim Stefanich; Wayne Zahn, and Don Johnson were the five who made it into the nationally televised finals, and they were seeded in that order.

Johnson, who had been runnerup in 1967 and 1968, fell behind Zahn's opening five strikes and lost, 258-193.

Zahn next ran into Stefanich and in one of the most tense games ever staged in a PBA playoff, they went into the 10th frame with Zahn a pin ahead. Stefanich struck in the ninth and 10th and finished with a spare for 237. Zahn needed only nine to tie, a strike to win. A leave of four pins was difficult to believe and Stefanich was the winner, 237-234.

Against Soutar, Stefanich finished with four in a row and Soutar left a 4-7-9-10 split for the $25,000-on-the-line finale.

Stefanich appeared zeroed in and the consensus of the experts in attendance favored the Joliet Jolter by a slight margin over Godman, who had been waiting nervously for the completion of the three playoff games.

Godman changed their thinking quickly. Smoking every ball, he started with a turkey. He added three more and was halfway home to the big one.

He added a strike in the seventh, but a pin up in the eighth stopped the string. But it was over ---- Stefanich's respectable 228 was no match. Godman, who had missed the finals just the year before by 32 pins, was the happiest guy in the universe.

The tournament was frustration for some others. Defending Firestone champion Dave Davis exited after missing the 24-man finals field, and Dick Weber, who was at or near the top throughout the early going, finished in sixth place.

The biggest block of the tournament was an 1858 turned in Thursday afternoon by left-hander Don Glover. Earl Johnson thrilled a big opening day crowd with a perfect game.

It was a typically great Tournament of Champions week, probably the best in the five-year history of the tournament.

THE FINALS

PLAYOFF RESULTS-Zahn defeated Johnson, 258-193; Stefanich defeated Zahn, 237-234; Stefanich defeated Soutar, 227-201; and in the championship game Godman defeated Stefanich, 266-228.

48-GAME TOTALS

		Name, City/State		Pins		WLT		+		Tot		Amt
1		Jim Godman, Hayward, Calif.		10475		20-4-0		1000		11475
2		Dave Soutar, Gilroy, Calif.		10405		18-6-0		900		11305
3		Jim Stefanich, Joliet, Ill.		10368		17-7-0		850		11218
4		Wayne Zahn, Tempe, Ariz.		10412		14-10-0		700		11112
5		Don Johnson, Kokomo, Ind.		10360		15-9-0		750		11110
*6		Dick Weber, St. Louis, Mo.		10282		12-12-0		600		10882		$2,050
7		Tommy Tuttle, King, N. C.		10152		14-10-0		700		10852		1,700
8		Nelson Burton Jr., St. Louis, Mo.		10200		11-12-1		575		10775		1,600
9		Gene Rhoda, Valparaiso, Ind.		10064		13-11-0		650		10714		1,500
10		Jim St. John, San Jose, Calif.		10009		14-10-0		700		10709		1,450
11		Johnny Guenther, Fresno, Calif.		10184		10-14-0		500		10684		1,400
12		Don Glover, Bakersfield, Calif.		10154		9-15-0		450		10604		1,375
13		Billy Welu, St. Louis, Mo.		9910		13-10-1		675		10585		1,350
14		Ralph Engan, Monsey, N. Y.		9883		13-10-1		675		10558		1,325
15		Barry Asher, Costa Mesa, Calif.		9987		10-13-1		525		10512		1,300
16		Mike Limongello, N. Babylon, N. Y.		9954		11-13-0		550		10504		1,275
17		Pete Tountas, Tucson, Ariz.		10070		8-15-1		425		10495		1,250
18		Mike Durbin, Burbank, Calif.		9992		10-14-0		500		10492		1,225
19		George Howard, Kalamazoo, Mich.		9810		13-11-0		650		10460		1,200
20		Don McCune, Munster, Ind.		9931		9-15-0		450		10381		1,175
21		Tim Harahan, Canoga Park, Calif.		9898		8-15-1		425		10323		1,150
**22		Earl Johnson, Minneapolis, Minn.		9981		5-19-0		250		10231		1,125
23		Billy Hardwick, Louisville, Ky.		9703		10-14-0		500		10202		1,100
*24		Sam Baca, Hayward, Calif. (includes 67 pin penalty)		9712		8-16-0		400		10045		1037.50
25		Bob Strampe, Detroit, Mich. (32 games) (Baca penalized 67 pins for alternate switch with Bob Strampe and split prize money.)		6469		0-0-0		0		6469		1037.50

Pos.		Name, City/State	Total	Amount
26		Fred Lening, Yardley, Pa.	4909	$1,037.50
27		Glenn Allison, Los Angeles, Calif.	4901	1,000
28		Les Schissler, Denver, Coo.	4888	1,000
29		Dave Davis, Phoenix, Ariz.	4883	1,000
30		Carmen Salvino, Chicago, Ill., Harry Smith, Fresno, Calif.	4857	1,000
32		Vern Downing, San Francisco, Calif.	4856	1,000
33		Ray Bluth, St. Louis, Mo.	4841	1,000
34		Dick Ritger, Hartford, Wisc.	4827	1,000
35		Al Savas, Milwaukee, Wisc.	4808	1,000
36		Joe Joseph, Lansing, Mich.	4797	1,000
37		Mike McGrath, El Cerrito, Calif.	1789	1,000
38		Bill Tucker, Louisville, Ky.	4762	1,000
39		Lou Scalia, Hollywood Fla.	4758	1,000
40		Buzz Fazio, Delton, Mich.	4757	1,000
41		Don Carter, Tarzana, Calif.	4748	1,000
42		Don Helling, St. Louis, Mo.	4740	1,000
43		Billy Golembiewski, Detroit, Mich.	4732	1,000
44		Teata Semiz, River Edge, N. J.	4699	1,000
45		Bill Allen, Fresno, Calif.	4680	1,000
46		Butch Gearhart, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.	4628	1,000
47		Skee Foremsky, El Paso, Tex.	4612	1,000
48		Johnny Meyer, Setauket, N. Y.	4524	1,000