After making the five-man finals in two of the previous three Summer Tour tournaments, Ed Ressler made it to the winner's circle the hard way, downing four opponents to chalk up his fourth PBA title, the Houston Open. Ressler's last victim was PBA Hall of Famer Dave Davis, a lefthander out of Tinton Falls, N.J., who led from the opening round but was little competition in the championship match, rolling only two strikes and losing by a score of 245-180. To get to the title match Ressler used his hot hand to bowl past Jim Plessinger, 247-204, Joe Berardi, 243-209, and Marshall Holman 185-165. Ressler's 245 in the nationally televised finale upped his four-game total to 920, an average of 230 per game, earning him his first championship since the Miller High Life Open in 1977. TELEVISED FINALS | Pos. |  | Name, City/State | Total | Amount | | | 1 | | Ed Ressler, Bethlehem, Pa. | 920 (4 games) | $8,000 | | 2 | | Dave Davis, Tinton Falls, N. J. | 180 (1 game) | 5,000 | | 3 | | Marshall Holman, Medford, Ore. | 165 (1 game) | 4,000 | | 4 | | Joe Berardi, Pearl River, N. Y. | 209 (1 game) | 3,500 | | 5 | | Jim Plessinger, State College, Pa. | 204 (1 game) | 3,000 | |
PLAYOFF RESULTS: Ressler defeated Plessinger, 247-204; Ressler defeated Berardi, 243-209; Ressler defeated Holman, 185-165, and in the championship game Ressler defeated Davis, 245-180.
42-GAME TOTALS | | | Name, City | | Pins | | Avg | | WLT | | + | | Tot | | Amt | | | 1 | | Dave Davis, Tinton Falls, N. J. | | 9393 | | 223.6 | | 16-8-0 | | 480 | | 9873 | | | | 2 | | Marshall Holman, Medford, Ore. | | 9364 | | 222.9 | | 13-10-1 | | 405 | | 9769 | | | | 3 | | Joe Berardi, Pearl River, N. Y. | | 9248 | | 220.1 | | 17-7-0 | | 510 | | 9758 | | | | 4 | | Jim Plessinger, State College, Pa. | | 9231 | | 219.7 | | 17-7-0 | | 510 | | 9741 | | | | 5 | | Ed Ressler Jr., Bethlehem, Pa. | | 9180 | | 218.5 | | 16-7-1 | | 495 | | 9675 | | | | **6 | | Charlie Tapp, St. Paul, Minn. | | 9195 | | 218.9 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 9555 | | $2,550 | | 7 | | Richard Martinez, Yuba City, Calif. | | 9043 | | 215.3 | | 15-9-0 | | 450 | | 9493 | | 2,000 | | 8 | | Guppy Troup, Columbia, S. C. | | 9085 | | 216.3 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 9445 | | 1,900 | | 9 | | Cliff McNealy, San Lorenzo, Calif. | | 9080 | | 216.1 | | 11-12-1 | | 345 | | 9425 | | 1,800 | | 10 | | Gil Sliker, Washington, N. J. | | 9101 | | 216.6 | | 10-14-0 | | 300 | | 9401 | | 1,700 | | 11 | | Butch Soper, Whittier, Calif. | | 9113 | | 216.9 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 9373 | | 1,600 | | 12 | | Doug Myers, El Toro, Calif. | | 9009 | | 214.5 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 9369 | | 1,500 | | 13 | | Jay Robinson, Van Nuys, Calif. | | 8983 | | 213.8 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 9343 | | 1,400 | | 14 | | Steve Westberg, Cottage Grove, Ore. | | 9031 | | 213.0 | | 8-16-0 | | 240 | | 9371 | | 1,300 | | #15 | | Rick Minier, Portland, Ore. | | 8897 | | 211.8 | | 11-12-1 | | 345 | | 9242 | | 1,250 | | 16 | | Pete Couture, Windsor Locks, Conn. | | 8875 | | 211.3 | | 11-13-0 | | 330 | | 9205 | | 1,200 | | 17 | | Jerry Friedly, St. Helena, Calif. | | 8897 | | 211.8 | | 10-14-0 | | 300 | | 9197 | | 1,150 | | 18 | | George LeCain, Peabody, Mass. | | 8796 | | 209.4 | | 13-11-0 | | 390 | | 9186 | | 1,100 | | 19 | | Fred Conner, Mar Vista, Calif. | | 8878 | | 211.3 | | 10-14-0 | | 300 | | 9178 | | 1,050 | | #20 | | Arnie Goldman, Chicago | | 8907 | | 212.0 | | 9-15-0 | | 270 | | 9177 | | 1,000 | | 21 | | Gary Mage, Seattle | | 8802 | | 209.5 | | 12-12-0 | | 360 | | 9162 | | 950 | | 22 | | John Weltzien, Huntley, 111. | | 8787 | | 209.2 | | 8-15-1 | | 255 | | 9042 | | 900 | | 23 | | Paul Moser, Somerset, Mass. | | 8840 | | 210.4 | | 6-17-1 | | 195 | | 9035 | | 850 | | 24 | | Clinton Fairchild, Alexandria, Va. | | 8663 | | 206.2 | | 12-10-2 | | 390 | | 9023 | | 800 | |
18-GAME TOTALS | Pos. | | Name, City/State | Amount | | | *25 | | Phillip Ringener, Big Springs, Texas | $740 | | 26 | | Shelby Mullins, Ocala, Fla. | 640 | | 27 | | Tom Eder, N. Vernon, Ind. | 620 | | 28 | | Bus Oswalt, Muncie, Ind. | 600 | | 29 | | Tommy Hudson, Akron | 590 | | 30 | | Steve Cook, Roseville, Calif. | 580 | | 31 | | Palmer Fallgren, Sacramento, Calif. | 570 | | 32 | | Roy Garcea, New York, N. Y. | 560 | | 33 | | Jeff Valentine, Hopkinton, Mass. | 550 | | 34 | | Warren Nelson, Downey, Calif. | 540 | | 35 | | Rick Jones, Bellingham, Wash. | 525 | | | | Steve Neff, Sarasota, Fla. | 525 | | 37 | | Maury Newman, The Woodlands, Texas | 510 | | 38 | | Pete McCordic, Houston | 500 | | 39 | | Randy Lightfoot, St. Charles, Mo. | 490 | | 40 | | Teata Semiz, River Edge, N.J. | 480 | | 41 | | Mike Berlin, Muscatine, Iowa | 470 | | 42 | | Mike Durbin, Chagrin Falls, Ohio | 455 | | | | Dan Roche, Downey, Calif. | 455 | | 44 | | Randy Stoughton, Indianapolis | 440 | | 45 | | Dave Beckmann, Mercer Island, Wash. | 430 | | 46 | | Bill Spigner, Hamden, Conn. | 420 | | 47 | | Red Shrum, Houston | 410 | | 48 | | Bill George, Citrus Hts., Calif. | 400 | |
* - Match Play Alternate. ** - TV Finals Alternate. 18-game qualifying leader - Davis, 4,198. 24th place Troup, 3,811. Troup defeated Ringener, 236-196, for 24th place. #Phillip Ensminger, Rick Minier and Arnie Goldman rolled 300 games. PRO-AM CASHERS - Ron McCaull, Fred Conner, Paul Moser, Jeff Valentine, Jeff Morin, Joe Nuzzo, Tommy Hudson, Sam Flanagan, Charlie Venable, Dave Davis, Marshall Holman, Jimmy Weber, Art Trask (2), Boysie Huber, Steve Jones, Mike Aulby, Richard Martinez, Paul Colwell, Skip Tucker, Mike Durbin, Palmer Fallgren, Ed Ressler and Bus Oswalt.
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