April 29, 2021 Jerry Schneider

The Villages, Fla. – Pete Weber averaged 264 in the final round to emerge as top qualifier and lead 32 players advancing to match play for Thursday’s first eight-game match play round of the Florida Blue Medicare PBA50 National Championship presented by Spanish Springs Lanes.

Weber finished qualifying with a 4,360 18-game qualifying total (242.22 average). Finishing in eighth place after the second round, he bowled games of 278, 215, 278, 299, 248 and 265 to take the lead over 2018 PBA50 National Championship winner Lennie Boresch Jr. in second who finished 45 pins behind with 4,315.

“I had the right ball and was making the right adjustments but you still need the breaks,” said Weber. “I was able stay relaxed and take advantage of the breaks -- I wasn’t trying to force it and create breaks.”

The one bad break Weber had was leaving a 10-pin on his final ball in the 299 game.

Rounding out the top five heading into match play were Chris Keane, 4,246; Walter Ray Williams Jr., 4,219, and Michael Haugen Jr., 4,202.

Williams, the all-time leader on the Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour win list with 47 titles, became the all-time PBA50 Tour titles leader when he won the season-opening PBA50 Lightning Strikes Open for his 15th career title. Haugen has finished second in the first two events of the season.

Taking the 32nd and final spot for match play was Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III with a 3,907 pinfall.

After Thursday’s first eight-game match play round, the field will be cut to the top 16 for the second match play round to determine the top five for the stepladder finals. Pinfall from all rounds will carry over. The finals will air Thursday live on Flobowling.com beginning at 7 p.m. ET.