January 29, 2023 Nolan Hughes

At long last, the 2023 Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour is ready to roll this week with the U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling!

Indianapolis’ Royal Pin Woodland hosts the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year. Defending champion Anthony Simonsen headlines the 108-player field competing for the $100,000 top prize.

Qualifying begins on Tuesday, Jan. 31 and will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

After 24 games of qualifying across three different oil patterns, the field will be cut to the top-24 players. Then 24 games of round-robin match play on a fourth demanding oil pattern will determine the nine players advancing to the TV finals.

On Saturday Feb. 4, the No. 5-9 seeds will compete in the first leg of the stepladder finals at 4 p.m. ET on FS1. The advancer will join the top-four seeds in the stepladder finals Sunday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. on FOX.

Between all-time greats striving to shatter records, future Hall of Famers looking to cement their legacies and rising talents vying to make a name for themselves, this year’s U.S. Open is poised to be historic.

Storylines to Watch

Jason Belmonte begins his quest for a record-setting eighth Player of the Year with perhaps the most pivotal tournament. He is one of two players to win all five majors, including Indianapolis’ own Mike Aulby. Belmonte also owns multiple wins at every major except the U.S. Open; a win this week would make him the first player to win the Super Slam twice over.

Kris Prather and EJ Tackett can become the ninth player in PBA history to complete the Triple Crown. Prather, who won the 2020 Tournament of Champions and 2022 World Championship, makes his first attempt at the crown this year.

Tackett has been hunting the throne since winning the 2017 Tournament of Champions. He led last year’s U.S. Open by 502 pins, but fell in the title match to Simonsen.

Speaking of Simonsen, it’s a major, so he has a chance at upending historical precedent. The defending champion turned 26 earlier this month, and would become the youngest to win five majors by nearly four years with a win.

François Lavoie could become the fifth player with three U.S. Open titles, joining Pete Weber (five), Don Carter and Dick Weber (4) and Dave Husted (3).

Players to Watch

Seven of the last eight U.S. Open champions will be in this week’s field, including Chris Via, Dom Barrett, Ryan Ciminelli and Wes Malott; past champions Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes will also be competing.

Barnes and Malott are two of the three PBA Hall of Famers competing with their sons this week: Chris and Ryan Barnes; Parker, Justin and Brandon Bohn; and Wes and Jordan Malott.

Major League Baseball superstar Mookie Betts earned an exemption into the tournament field. The Dodgers outfielder is no stranger to the PBA Tour, and shot 300 at the 2018 World Series of Bowling.

Key Players by Squad

A-squad: Andrew Anderson, Jason Belmonte, Kris Prather, Sean Rash, Chris Via

B-squad: Dom Barrett, Anthony Simonsen, Jesper Svensson, EJ Tackett, Santtu Tahvanainen

C-squad: Jakob Butturff, AJ Johnson, François Lavoie, Brad Miller, Kyle Troup

The tournament roster, pending PTQ advancers, is available here.

Where to Watch

Each round of qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

Qualifying gets underway with A-squad at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, followed by B-squad at 1 p.m. and C-squad at 6 p.m.

After 48 games of qualifying and match play, the top-nine players will advance to the TV finals. On Saturday Feb. 4, the No. 5-9 seeds will compete in the first part of the stepladder finals at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

The advancer will join the four finalists in the championship round on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. on FOX.

2023 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling! Schedule

Sunday, Jan. 29 | BowlTV
9:30 am ET — Pre-tournament Qualifier

Monday, Jan. 30
Practice day

Tuesday, Jan. 31 | Qualifying - Round 2 (eight games) | BowlTV
8 a.m. — A-squad
1 p.m. — B-squad
6 p.m. — C-squad

Wednesday, Feb. 1 | Qualifying - Round 2 (eight games) | BowlTV
8 a.m. — B-squad
1 p.m. — C-squad
6 p.m. — A-squad

Thursday, Feb. 2  | Qualifying - Round 2 (eight games) | BowlTV
8 a.m. — C-squad
1 p.m. — A-squad
6 p.m. — B-squad — field cut to top 24

Friday, Feb. 3 | Round-robin match play | BowlTV
10 a.m. — Match play (eight games)
5 p.m. — Match play (eight games)

Saturday, Feb. 4 | Match play and TV finals
9 a.m. — Match play (eight games) - field cut to top nine | BowlTV
4 p.m. — TV finals, seeds 5-9 | FS1

Sunday, Feb. 5
2 p.m. — TV finals | FOX

More information on the 2023 U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling! can be found here.