Barry Asher evidently likes his victories in bunches. There was 1966, that first year of his out on the tour when he took two championships. Then, there was nothing, except plenty of exposure in finals competition until the 1971 South Bend, Ind., Open when he took his second crown of the 1971 season; and it was a big one. Asher gave the huge crowds at Ellisville who attended the $50,000 American Airlines Open the best of everything, including a 225 average for 42 games. All eyes were on Dave Soutar, who had won this event two years in a row. But, Asher's 16-7-1 mark was too strong a medicine for anyone to swallow, including hometown favorite Dick Weber, who gave Barry quite a tussle before bowing out. Weber was within 23 pins of Asher after 18 games but, when Barry took seven of his first eight man-against-man matches, the issue was just about out of the wood. 42-GAME FINALS AT ST. LOUIS | |  | Name, City/State | | Pins | | WLT | | + | | Tot | | Amt | | | 1 | | Barry Asher, Costa Mesa, Calif. | | 9455 | | 16-7-1 | | 495 | | 9950 | | $6,000 | | 2 | | Don McCune, Munster, Ind. | | 9268 | | 14-10-0 | | 420 | | 9688 | | 3,200 | | 3 | | Larry Laub, San Francisco, Calif. | | 9049 | | 16-9-0 | | 450 | | 9499 | | 2,500 | | 4 | | Roy Buckley, Columbus, Ohio | | 8976 | | 17-7-0 | | 510 | | 9486 | | 2,000 | | 5 | | Jim Godman, Lorain, Ohio | | 8941 | | 17-7-0 | | 510 | | 9451 | | 1,500 | | 6 | | Al Thompson, Cleveland, Ohio | | 8988 | | 14-10-0 | | 420 | | 9408 | | 1,400 | | 7 | | Dave Soutar, Gilroy, Calif. | | 8984 | | 14-10-0 | | 420 | | 9404 | | 1,300 | | 8 | | Dick Weber, St. Louis, Mo. | | 9003 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 9363 | | 1,200 | | 9 | | Gary Dickinson, Ft. Worth, Texas | | 8928 | | 14-10-0 | | 420 | | 9348 | | 1,100 | | 10 | | Mick McMahon, Portland, Ore. | | 8892 | | 15-9-0 | | 450 | | 9342 | | 1,000 | | 11 | | Ernie Schlegel, Newburgh, N.Y. | | 8861 | | 14-10-0 | | 420 | | 9281 | | 950 | | 12 | | Terry Booth, Mountain View, Calif. | | 8894 | | 12-11-1 | | 375 | | 9269 | | 900 | | 13 | | Dave Davis, Miami, Fla. | | 8940 | | 8-16-0 | | 240 | | 9180 | | 850 | | 14 | | Mike Limongello, N. Babylon, N.Y. | | 8795 | | 12-11-1 | | 375 | | 9170 | | 800 | | 15 | | Tim Harahan, Canoga Park, Calif. | | 8788 | | 10-13-1 | | 315 | | 9103 | | 750 | | 16 | | George Pappas, Charlotte, N.C. | | 8753 | | 11-13-0 | | 330 | | 9083 | | 700 | | #17 | | Dave Juric, Chicago, Ill. | | 8659 | | 11-12-1 | | 345 | | 9004 | | 675 | | 18 | | Carmen Salvino, Chicago, Ill. | | 8778 | | 7-16-1 | | 225 | | 9003 | | 650 | | 19 | | Gus Lampo, Endicott, N.Y. | | 8758 | | 7-17-0 | | 210 | | 8968 | | 625 | | 20 | | Allie Clarke, Akron, Ohio | | 8664 | | 10-14-0 | | 300 | | 8964 | | 600 | | 21 | | Skee Foremsky, Houston, Texas | | 8555 | | 11-13-0 | | 330 | | 8885 | | 575 | | 22 | | Don Russell, Miami, Fla. | | 8599 | | 9-15-0 | | 270 | | 8869 | | 550 | | 23 | | Tim Nix, Houston, Texas | | 8669 | | 6-18-0 | | 180 | | 8849 | | 525 | | 24 | | Butch Gearhart, Houston, Texas | | 8493 | | 9-15-0 | | 270 | | 8763 | | 500 | |
18-GAME TOTALS | Pos. | | Name, City/State | Total | Amount | | | 25 | | Alex Seymore, Kannapolis, N.C. | 3768 | $420 | | *26 | | Curt Schmidt, Ft. Wayne, Ind. | 3768 | 465 | | 27 | | Tommy Tuttle King, N.C. | 3758 | 360 | | 28 | | Randy Cottom, Harrisburg, Ill. | 352 | 350 | | 29 | | Wayne Zahn, Tempe, Ariz. | 3749 | 340 | | 30 | | Harry Smith, Canton, Ohio | 3746 | 330 | | 31 | | Ed Bourdase, Fresno, Calif. | 3739 | 315 | | | | Tye Critchlow, Los Angeles, Calif. | 3739 | 315 | |
*Alternate. #Dave Juric won a three-way roll-off for 24th spot. Dave Juric, 206, Alex Seymore, 190, Curt Schmidt 188. PRO-AM CASHERS ($50)-Dick Weber, Jimmy McHugh, Dave Soutar, Curt Schmidt, Gary Dickinson, Johnny Guenther.
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