Butch Soper waited until the last possible moment to qualify for the 1978 Firestone Tournament of Champions when he won the $75,000 Fair Lanes Open, the final open tournament on the Winter Tour. Soper, who rejoined the PBA Tour in 1978 after dropping off for nearly a year, defeated George Pappas, 199-184, for his first championship in a seven-year career. TELEVISED FINALS | Pos. |  | Name, City/State | Total | Amount | | | 1 | | Butch Soper, Santa Ana, Calif. | 199 (1 game) | $9,000 | | 2 | | George Pappas, Charlotte, N.C. | 412 (2 games) | 5,000 | | 3 | | Dave Soutar, Kansas City | 733 (3 games) | 4,000 | | 4 | | Gil Sliker, Washington, N.J. | 210 (1 game) | 3,500 | | 5 | | Ed DiTolla, Maywood, N.J. | 201 (1 game) | 3,000 | |
PLAYOFF RESULTS - Soutar defeated DiTolla, 247-201; Soutar defeated Sliker, 259-210; Pappas defeated Soutar, 228-227; in the championship game Soper defeated Pappas, 199-184.
42-GAME TOTALS | | | Name, City | | Pins | | Avg | | WLT | | + | | Tot | | Amt | | | 1 | | Butch Soper, Santa Ana, Calif. | | 8800 | | 209.5 | | 14-9-1 | | 435 | | 9235 | | | | 2 | | George Pappas, Charlotte, N.C. | | 8650 | | 205.9 | | 16-8-0 | | 480 | | 9130 | | | | 3 | | Gil Sliker, Washington, N.J. | | 8614 | | 205.1 | | 16-8-0 | | 480 | | 9094 | | | | 4 | | Dave Soutar, Kansas City | | 8634 | | 205.5 | | 15-9-0 | | 450 | | 9084 | | | | 5 | | Ed DiTolla, Maywood, N.J. | | 8620 | | 205.2 | | 15-9-0 | | 450 | | 9070 | | | | @6 | | Jim Robinette, Alexandria, Va. | | 8694 | | 207.6 | | 11-13-0 | | 330 | | 9024 | | $2,600 | | 7 | | Sam Flanagan, Parkersburg, W. Va. | | 8547 | | 203.5 | | 14-10-0 | | 420 | | 8967 | | 2,450 | | 8 | | Louie Moore, Indianapolis, Ind. | | 8587 | | 204.4 | | 12-11-1 | | 375 | | 8962 | | 2,200 | | 9 | | Don Bell, Santa Maria, Calif. | | 8449 | | 201.1 | | 15-9-0 | | 450 | | 8899 | | 2,000 | | 10 | | Paul Moser, Medford, Mass. | | 8506 | | 202.5 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 8866 | | 1,900 | | 11 | | Ernie Schlegel, U.S.A. | | 8396 | | 199.9 | | 15-9-0 | | 450 | | 8846 | | 1,800 | | 12 | | Johnny Petraglia, Staten Island, N.Y. | | 8499 | | 202.3 | | 11-13-0 | | 330 | | 8829 | | 1,700 | | 13 | | Joe Berardi, Pearl River, N.Y. | | 8496 | | 202.2 | | 11-13-0 | | 330 | | 8826 | | 1,600 | | 14 | | Steve Westberg, Cot. Grove, Ore. | | 8449 | | 201.1 | | 10-13-1 | | 315 | | 8764 | | 1,500 | | 15 | | Steve Jones, Independence, Mo. | | 8432 | | 200.7 | | 11-13-0 | | 330 | | 8762 | | 1,400 | | 16 | | Matt Surina, Longview, Wash. | | 8324 | | 198.1 | | 14-9-1 | | 435 | | 8759 | | 1,350 | | 17 | | Jack Lee, Enid, Okla. | | 8353 | | 198.8 | | 13-11-0 | | 390 | | 8743 | | 1,300 | | 18 | | Jerry Smyth, Anchorage, Alaska | | 8377 | | 199.4 | | 10-14-0 | | 300 | | 8677 | | 1,250 | | 19 | | Ralph Hartmann, New Hyde Pk. | | 8289 | | 197.3 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 8649 | | 1,200 | | 20 | | Phil Jones, Owings Mills, Md. | | 8254 | | 196.5 | | 9-15-0 | | 270 | | 8524 | | 1,150 | | 21 | | Dick Armstrong, Pk. City, Ill. | | 8202 | | 195.2 | | 8-16-0 | | 240 | | 8442 | | 1,100 | | @22 | | Larry Brunson, Washington, D.C. | | 8140 | | 193.8 | | 9-14-1 | | 285 | | 8425 | | 1,050 | | *23 | | John Denton, Midland, Texas | | 8187 | | 194.9 | | 8-16-0 | | 240 | | 8369 | | 930 | | 24 | | Tony Moscato, Havre de Grace, Md. | | 8122 | | 193.3 | | 3-18-3 | | 135 | | 8257 | | 950 | |
18-GAME TOTALS | Pos. | | Name, City/State | Amount | | | 25 | | K. Craycraft, N. M'ville W.Va. | $905 | | 26 | | Fred Conner, Mar Vista, Calif. | 845 | | 27 | | Dave Kappel, Chicago | 790 | | 28 | | Frank Gallo Jr., Deer Park, N.Y. | 770 | | 29 | | Bob Shaffer, Cleveland | 750 | | *30 | | Curt Schmidt, Ft. Wayne, Ind. | 775 | | | | Teata Semiz, River Edge, N.J. | 725 | | 32 | | Pete McCordic, Houston, Texas | 710 | | 33 | | Don Sylvia, Fishkill, N.Y. | 700 | | 34 | | Doe Munsell, Dallas, Texas | 690 | | 35 | | Bill Beach, Sharon, Pa. | 680 | | 36 | | Mike Berlin, Muscatine, Iowa | 670 | | 37 | | Tommy Hudson, Akron, Ohio | 660 | | 38 | | Don McCune, Munster, Ind. | 650 | | 39 | | Frank Ellenburg, Mesa, Ariz. | 640 | | 40 | | George LeCain, Danvers, Mass. | 625 | | | | Larry O'Neill, Alexandria, Va. | 625 | | 42 | | Glenn Pierce, Jacksonville, Fla. | 610 | | 43 | | Duane Troxler, New Orleans, La. | 600 | | 44 | | Roger Tramp, Phillipsburg, Ks. | 590 | | #45 | | Brien Hayes, Norwalk, Conn. | 580 | | 46 | | Norm Meyers, St. Louis | 570 | | 47 | | Larry Gray, Torrance, Calif. | 560 | | 48 | | Bobby Fenton, Cucamonga, Calif. | 275 | | | | Don Johnson, Las Vegas | 275 | |
Denton replaced Craycraft in finals when Craycraft suffered a hand injury. Denton took a 58 pin penalty and they split 25th and 23rd place money, each winning $905. Denton also received $25 for alternate for one block, and Curt Schmidt became alternate and received additional $50.
*Alternate. 18-game qualifying leader - DiTolla, 3776. 24th Place - J. Smyth, 3599. PRO-AM CASHERS George Pappas, Lee Taylor, Craig Cutsor, Dennis Swayda, Steve Westberg, Phil Jones, Ed DiTolla, Louie Moore, Neil Brown, Paul Polito, Jack Lee, Roger Bowker, Ernie Schlegel, Lou Capasso, John Denton, Butch Soper, Emmett Shutes, Ralph Hartmann. #Brien Hayes and Ed Lee had 300 games. @Non-PBA Member.
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