Troy Lint's Comeback

The 2023 PBA50 Tour season was one Troy Lint will always remember. He won the Senior U.S. Open and the Morgantown Classic on his way to being named the PBA50 Player of the Year. It was an honor he never dreamed he would receive. The powerful lefty made six top-five finishes and was a regular threat at every tournament despite battling a painful right knee.

Lint tried everything to avoid surgery but eventually agreed because he wanted to get back to doing what he loves – competing and bowling with his buddies. During the fifth tournament on the 2024 PBA50 Tour schedule, Lint defeated Tom Hess in the opening match of the Johnny Petraglia BVL Open in Clearwater, Fla. before losing in the next match to John Janawicz, who went on to win that event and Player of the Year. That event was May 22, 2024, and then Lint basically disappeared from the tour.      

He endured a few more surgeries, setbacks and moments of defeat. In January of this year, he started telling friends like Chris Barnes, Andy Neuer, Ryan Shafer and others he feared his bowling career was over. He could barely walk, and he vividly remembers a conversation with his doctor.

“I was sitting in the chair, and he was standing there talking. I had my head down looking at the floor and I looked up at him and said, ‘Do you know how hard it is to contain myself right now from just flipping out?’ He got nervous and said, ‘There is nothing wrong with your leg.’ I said, ‘Well, I can’t bowl, and I could bowl before I walked in here seven months ago,’” Lint recalled. “He goes, ‘It’s just going to take time’ and I was like, ‘I don’t have time. I’ve given you seven months, and I am not even close.’”

That happened on a Wednesday. At 8:30 p.m. that Sunday, Lint’s doctor suggested he go to his physical therapist and Lint met him at 8 a.m. the next day.

“I had no hope and no belief that he could fix me. I was a wreck. I said, ‘Can I tell you what I can do and can’t do?' He said that would be great. He wasn’t expecting what I told him. He looks at me and said, ‘I think I can fix you,’” Lint said. “I was like what? I asked if he could get me fixed by May. He looked up and said, ‘Let’s get to work.’ I went, ‘You’ve got it.’”

Since Dec. 17, 2024, the 57-year-old was in the gym six days a week, only taking Sundays off. He was rehabbing three times a week up until about May. He lost 50 pounds and put on 30 pounds of muscle. He knows the amount of work that he has put in to get back on the lanes is off the charts.

“Oh, it has been trying, very trying. I have other stuff going on, too. My mother passed away in February,” he said.

Even though there were times he felt like he was “on the verge of collapsing,” he never gave up. It’s not in his nature. To help him through this challenging time have been a lot of local Pennsylvania friends, along with his PBA50 family. So many of them have reached out via text and constant phone calls. That includes tour roommate Ryan Shafer, fellow lefty Jason Couch who has endured his own knee surgery recoveries, along with Parker Bohn III, Dan Knowlton, Michael Haggitt and Chris Barnes.

“It’s a lot of support and a lot of great people. I love the bowling community. It is like total acceptance. For guys of Hall of Fame stature to do that just means the world to me,” he said. “My career path took me in a different direction. I am a latecomer to this. I think they see I just want to be one of them. I want to be out here week-in and week-out bowling with them and being around them.”

Lint got his chance again when he appeared at his first PBA50 tournament in nearly 14 months. He finished 13th in the South Shore Classic on June 26. He averaged 219 for 24 games. During qualifying, he never bowled under 200, shooting back-to-back seven-game qualifying blocks of 1,591. He made it through four games in advancers round and two match play rounds. You couldn’t take the smile off his face.

“It is a phenomenal feeling. Pretty good two days,” he said after his two qualifying rounds. “Right now, I feel like I am using too much energy. I am amped up, but I will settle down here soon. I’m on cloud nine.”

Lint and his high backswing are back and his infectious joy for the game is higher than ever. He is ready to compete in the PBA50 World Series of Bowling III, once again being held at JAX 60 in Jackson, Mich. In the inaugural PBA50 WSOB in 2023, Lint managed to finish second to Dan Knowlton in the Ballard Championship and second in the World Championship to Chris Barnes, while fighting through his knee pain. 

This year’s event will include the Ballard, Monacelli, Petraglia and Holman Championships, all leading up to the World Championship. For each individual championship, beginning on Thurs., Jul 10 with the Ballard Championship, players will bowl eight games of qualifying to make it to the top 16 for best-of-five-games match play. Those matches will take place the day after qualifying with the Round of 16 at 10 a.m. Eastern and the Round of 8 at 2 p.m. ET. The four undefeated players and the highest seeded losing bowler in the Round of 8 will be in the stepladder finals, each scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET. 

After 32 overall games of qualifying across the four championships, those pins will carry over to determine the 18 bowlers who will compete in the PBA50 World Championship, set to begin on Fri., July 18. There will be three rounds of round-robin match play totalling 18 games — with 30 bonus pins per game for match winners — until the top five overall players advance to the stepladder finals at 3 p.m. on Sat., July 19.

Last year’s winners at the WSOB II included Chris Barnes winning the Ballard Championship, Tom Hess winning the Monacelli Championship, John Janawicz taking home the title in the Petraglia Championship and Mario Quintero winning his first title in the World Championship. The Holman Championship is a new addition this season.

With five titles up for grabs, it’s going to be an entertaining World Series of Bowling. Watch every minute of the action on BowlTV. You can also follow the scores and get more information here.

Don’t be surprised if Troy Lint is in the mix once again.