Andrew Anderson Wins 2025 PBA Tour Finals

For the third time this season, Andrew Anderson and EJ Tackett met in a PBA Tour title match.

Tackett defeated Anderson in the U.S. Open title match, then Anderson defeated Tackett in the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic championship.

This time, in the final televised PBA Tour title event of 2025, Anderson prevailed in the PBA Tour Finals to claim his second title of the season — both against Tackett.

Anderson swept Tackett in the Race-to-Two championship on Sunday night at Steel City Bowl & Brews in Bethlehem, Pa.

"To win two titles this year, that solidified that I was back," Anderson said. "I lost the U.S. Open to EJ and that was a little sour. You lose to the best in the world and you don't know when you're going to get another opportunity. Then, of course, I bowl EJ again in the title match (in Nevada) and snuck that one out. EJ and I have this little thing going, but he bowls for every title and I just bowl for a few. It feels like you sneak them away when you get one from him."

The 30-year-old earned his sixth career PBA Tour title and the first-place prize of $35,000.

In the first eight editions of the PBA Tour Finals — which features the top eight players in competition points over the previous two seasons — Tackett, Jason Belmonte, Kyle Troup and Anthony Simonsen each won twice.

Anderson became the fifth champion of the event, which is fitting as he was the only Player of the Year of that stretch who had not won.

Group 1 Stepladder

Tackett secured the top seed in Group 1 during Saturday’s positioning round, in which the eight finalists competed in two groups based on their point totals during the 2024 and 2025 PBA Tour seasons.

Kyle Troup, a two-time PBA Tour Finals champion, dispatched Pennsylvania native Bill O’Neill in the opening match of the Group 1 stepladder, 227-214. O’Neill struggled to strike on the right lane, knocking down all 10 pins just once in his five frames.

Troup started the stepladder throwing urethane on both lanes, which featured the 46-foot Petraglia oil pattern on the left lane and the 40-foot Monacelli pattern on the right lane.

After falling behind No. 2 seed Graham Fach in the second match, Troup switched to reactive equipment in the ninth and 10th frames. He struck in the ninth, but made an incorrect laneplay guess in the 10th.

Fach, needing only a mark, struck to advance to face Tackett in a Race-to-Two match.

Fach rode the momentum of the win over Troup to take a 1-0 lead. Tackett responded in Game 2 to force a two-frame roll-off.

In the roll-off, Tackett and Fach each hit the pocket three times. The difference was Tackett struck twice and left one 10-pin, while Fach did the inverse. Tackett advanced to the championship match by a 40-39 margin.

Group 2 Stepladder

In Group 2, Anderson also earned the top seed and prevailed in the group stepladder.

However, a third PBA Tour Finals championship match between Tackett and Belmonte seemed imminent after Belmonte defeated Anthony Simonsen and Marshall Kent, shooting games of 269 and 278.

Belmonte then took a 1-0 lead over top-seeded Anderson. But Anderson, who ranked second in competition points this season, fought back to force a roll-off.

On a left lane that gave him all sorts of problems, particularly with the 10-pin, Anderson struck on the first frame of the roll-off. Belmonte struck on the right lane, then left a 10-pin himself on the left lane.

Anderson doubled in the 10th frame of the roll-off to advance to the championship match.

Championship Match

On fresh lane conditions, Tackett started with four straight strikes before converting two spares. Splits and open frames in the seventh and ninth frames, however, cost Tackett the opening game as Anderson struck on seven of the first nine frames.

In the second game, Tackett missed the head-pin in the first and third frames. He also missed the spare attempt in the third frame, putting himself in a 21-pin deficit.

Anderson struck in three of his first four frames, but an open frame in the sixth surrendered control back to Tackett.

In the ninth frame, Tackett missed left and barely hit the head-pin. In the 10th, he left the Big Four and ceded the tournament to Anderson.

The PBA Tour season continues with the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles in July and the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters in August.

Group 1 Stepladder Scores

Match 1: No. 4 Kyle Troup def. No. 3 Bill O’Neill, 227-214
Match 2: No. 2 Graham Fach def. No. 4 Kyle Troup, 226-197
Match 3: No. 1 EJ Tackett def. No. 2 Graham Fach, 2-1 (211-246, 258-202, 40-39)

Group 2 Stepladder Scores

Match 1: No. 3 Jason Belmonte def. No. 4 Anthony Simonsen, 269-259
Match 2: No. 3 Jason Belmonte def. No. 2 Marshall Kent, 278-221
Match 3: No. 1 Andrew Anderson def. No. 3 Jason Belmonte, 2-1 (203-225, 203-181, 59-40)

Championship Match Scores

Andrew Anderson def. EJ Tackett, 2-0
Game 1: Anderson def. Tackett, 212-200
Game 2: Anderson def. Tackett, 212-189

PBA Tour Finals Final Standings

1. Andrew Anderson, $35,000
2. EJ Tackett, $18,000
3. Jason Belmonte, $10,000
4. Graham Fach, $10,000
5. Marshall Kent, $7,500
6. Kyle Troup, $7,500
7. Bill O’Neill, $6,000
8. Anthony Simonsen, $6,000

More information on the PBA Tour Finals is available here.