2025 PBA Tour Season in Review
Even in a season in which there were six first-time champions, including two first-time major champions, two class-of-2025 Hall of Famers who won titles later in the season, three players with multiple victories and champions representing eight different countries, there was an outlier: EJ Tackett. In earning his third consecutive and fourth overall Player of the Year Award, Tackett won four titles (two majors) in eight championship-match opportunities among his 11 TV appearances. The other two multi-time champions—Andrew Anderson and Jesper Svensson—both won twice and both had to go through Tackett to do so, with Anderson defeating Tackett in both their title-match meetings and Svensson getting by Tackett in the PBA Playoffs.
The most impressive stats put up by a rookie in years belonged to Ryan Barnes, who posted five top-10 finishes, including a runner-up performance in the PBA Players Championship, and became the first rookie in PBA history to earn six figures. Barnes and his father, 1998 Rookie of the Year Chris, are the first father-son pair to earn PBA Rookie of the Year honors.
Here’s a quick recap of the 2025 PBA Tour season:
PBA Delaware Classic
Mid County Lanes & Entertainment
Middletown, Delaware
Winner: Graham Fach (second career title)
Eight years and 11 months after Graham Fach became the first Canadian to win a PBA Tour title, doing so in the 2016 PBA Players Championship, he finally claimed his second to put an end to the impostor syndrome he said he’d been battling during his extended title drought. As the No. 3 seed, Fach rolled through Michael Davidson, Nick Pate and finally Jakob Butturff to claim the title. Fach’s 277 in the title match would hold up as the highest title-winning score of the entire 2025 season.
Full story on the PBA Delaware Classic
U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling
Woodland Bowl
Indianapolis, Indiana
Winner: EJ Tackett (24)
With two of three qualifying rounds complete, Tackett was in 78th place. After a huge third round got him into match play, Tackett had 24 more games to pile up pins, which he did to the point of leading everyone except Andrew Anderson, whose near-tournament-long lead held into the stepladder finals.
Tackett beat former U.S. Open champion Chris Via by 93 pins in the semifinal match, then ran over Anderson with a 238-184 victory in the championship match. It was Tackett’s second U.S. Open title and sixth overall major.
PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic
Bowlero Vernon Hills
Vernon Hills, Illinois
Winner: Santtu Tahvanainen (1)
Three events into the season, three PBA Tour champions from three different countries. 2022 PBA Rookie of the Year Santtu Tahvanainen became the third player from Finland ever to win (Mika Koivuniemi and Osku Palermaa are the others), earning the top seed and then finding his way past Via in the title match.
Full story on the PBA Owen's Illinois Classic
PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic
Enterprise Park Lanes
Springfield, Missouri
Winner: EJ Tackett (25)
Winning his 25th title tied Tackett with Hall of Famer Brian Voss for 11th all-time in PBA Tour titles. Only 10 players had ever won more times and one of them was one of Tackett’s idols, the eponymous Pete Weber, who autographed Tackett’s trophy for him. Tackett earned the top seed and faced his fellow Triple Crown winner, Dom Barrett, who won three matches from the No. 4 spot to get to the championship match.
Tackett’s 238-202 victory gave him his second title of 2025, his fourth consecutive season with multiple titles.
Full story on the PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic
PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship
Bowlero Vernon Hills
Vernon Hills, Illinois
Winners: Jason Belmonte (32) and Bill O’Neill (15)
Another one of the mere 10 players with more career titles than Tackett, Jason Belmonte, added one more to his cache as he and Bill O’Neill, who at the time had been elected but not yet inducted into the Hall of Fame, claimed the Roth/Holman Doubles Championship for the second time in their careers.
The top seeds waited in the title match for No. 2 seeds Shawn Maldonado and DJ Archer to get by No. 5 seeds and 2019 champions Matt Ogle and Sean Rash (himself also a Hall of Fame-elect). Belmonte and O’Neill rolled 210 to Maldonado and Archer’s 169, giving Belmonte his 32nd title and O’Neill his 15th. Belmonte’s Australia became the fourth country represented by a PBA Tour champion just five events into the 2025 season.
Full story on the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship
PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic presented by Pilgrim’s
Coconut Bowl (qualifying and match play), National Bowling Stadium (stepladder finals)
Sparks, Nevada and Reno, Nevada
Winner: Andrew Anderson (5)
Andrew Anderson earned his second No. 1 seed of the season, leading the field out of Coconut Bowl and into the stepladder finals held at the National Bowling Stadium. And, just like the last time Anderson was the top seed, the second seed was EJ Tackett.
In the semifinal match, Tackett and Ethan Fiore tied at 238, requiring what turned out to be the longest roll-off in PBA history, with Tackett striking seven times and Fiore striking six times before a 9-count on his final shot.
Anderson, determined not to repeat the history of the U.S. Open, dominated the championship match, beating Tackett 237-181 and securing Anderson’s fifth career title.
Full story on the PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic
PBA Scorpion Championship
National Bowling Stadium
Reno, Nevada
Winner: Rasmus Edvall (1)
The fifth country to welcome home a PBA Tour champion in 2025 would be Sweden as Rasmus Edvall became the third Swede ever to win a PBA Tour title (Mats Karlsson and Jesper Svensson were the first two). Entering the stepladder finals as the fifth seed, Edvall got by Ryan Barnes, Tobias Börding and EJ Tackett to reach the title match against Rafiq Ismail.
Edvall posted his highest score of the day, 224, against Ismail’s 172, making Edvall the second first-time champion of 2025.
Full story on the PBA Scorpion Championship
PBA Viper Championship
National Bowling Stadium
Reno, Nevada
Winner: Darren Ong (1)
Three 2025 trends became quite evident, if they weren’t already, with Darren Ong’s win in the PBA Viper Championship: (1) first-time winners are going to be abundant, (2) winners from all over the world are the norm, (3) EJ Tackett might bowl for every title for the rest of time.
Ong became the first player from Singapore to win a PBA Tour title, defeating No. 5 seed Tackett in the championship match, 215-205. Tackett, fresh off his second-place finish in the Nevada Classic and third-place finish in the Scorpion Championship, climbed through Jason Belmonte, Zach Wilkins and Kris Prather to reach the title match, but could not get by Ong, who made Singapore the sixth country represented by a PBA Tour champion in 2025.
Full story on the PBA Viper Championship
PBA Chameleon Championship
National Bowling Stadium
Reno, Nevada
Winner: Tun Hakim (1)
Another first-time champion. Another country (Malaysia) represented. Another first-time winner for his nation. Tun Hakim was the top seed in the stepladder finals and rolled 269 against Kevin McCune, who had just shot 265 to defeat Andrew Anderson in the semifinal match. EJ Tackett, again on the telecast, finished fourth after falling to Anderson.
Full story on the PBA Chameleon Championship
PBA Shark Championship
National Bowling Stadium
Reno, Nevada
Winner: EJ Tackett (26)
It was an interesting time in Reno for Tackett. He was clearly the best player throughout the World Series of Bowling, making every cut, competing every day with very little chance to rest, and yet he’d just spent the previous four days competing in the televised finals but not winning titles.
Sitting in the top spot in the Shark Championship, Tackett had to beat Tom Smallwood—the man Tackett beat for his first major in 2016—who had just rolled through Jesper Svensson, Tim Foy Jr. and Packy Hanrahan. Tackett didn’t give Smallwood much of a chance, rolling 265 on the way to Tackett’s second consecutive Shark Championship, third title of 2025 and 26th of his career, tying him with Don Johnson for 10th all-time.
Full story on the PBA Shark Championship
PBA World Championship
National Bowling Stadium
Reno, Nevada
Winner: EJ Tackett (27)
The tie with Don Johnson didn’t last long. Tackett, making his sixth TV appearance in as many opportunities in Reno (the first person to qualify for every WSOB telecast since Sean Rash in 2011), was the No. 2 seed for the stepladder finals and got by the surging Tim Foy Jr. in the semifinal match to set up a championship opportunity against the all-time majors king, Jason Belmonte, who was looking for his 16th career major and first since 2023, when he beat Tackett in the Tournament of Champions.
This time, Tackett would prevail, shooting 242 on the way to his third consecutive PBA World Championship title, seventh career major title (tied with Norm Duke for sixth all-time) and fourth title of 2025.
Full story on the PBA World Championship
USBC Masters
Thunderbowl Lanes
Allen Park, Michigan
Winner: Gary Haines (1)
When Gary Haines admitted he was not comfortable during the deciding game of his two-game match with Anthony Simonsen (Haines, the top seed, had to be beaten twice in order to lose the match, and Simonsen won the first game), ball rep Dino Castillo suggested Haines take a moment, give his wife a kiss, then bowl.
Haines didn’t take the advice right away, but he took it, and it seemed to settle him down enough to throw his two best shots in the two most crucial spots of the match, claiming his first PBA Tour title and a major at that.
Full story on the USBC Masters
PBA All-Star Weekend powered by QubicaAMF: One-Handers vs. Two Handers
Foxx View Lanes
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Winners: One-handers (EJ Tackett, Andrew Anderson, Graham Fach, Kris Prather, Jakob Buttuff)
PBA All-Star Weekend marked the first time stringpins were used on a PBA telecast and pitted the top five one-handers versus the top five two-handers based on competition points through the World Series of Bowling in a Race to Three baker match. The one-handers—EJ Tackett, Andrew Anderson, Jakob Butturff, Graham Fach and Kris Prather—took the match relatively pun-intended handily, three games to one.
Full story on PBA All-Star Weekend
PBA All-Star Weekend powered by QubicaAMF: Strike Derby
Foxx View Lanes
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Winner: EJ Tackett
Though the Strike Derby is not a PBA Tour title event, the joy on champion EJ Tackett’s face was genuine after winning a roll-off against Jason Belmonte. Tackett had been close many times in previous Strike Derby competitions, but until this season, hadn’t been able to get the win. After he and Belmonte each rolled 10 strikes during their two-minute striking sessions, a strike-to-win roll-off ended quickly when Tackett struck and Belmonte got nine.
Full story on PBA All-Star Weekend
PBA Players Championship
JAX 60
Jackson, Michigan
Winner: Ethan Fiore (1)
Thinking about Tackett and roll-offs is a convenient transition to Ethan Fiore, whose seven-round roll-off with Tackett earlier in the season gave Fiore nearly a full bonus game of television experience. Fiore was guaranteed only one game in the PBA Players Championship by virtue of qualifying first overall and his opponent would be Rookie of the Year frontrunner Ryan Barnes, who beat Tim Foy Jr., 264-235, in the semifinal match.
Despite bowling for a major title at the age of 20, Fiore didn’t appear fazed by anything, putting up a score of 232 to become the second player this season to make his first title a major championship.
Full story on the PBA Players Championship
PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila
AMF Riviera Lanes
Fairlawn, Ohio
Winner: Jesper Svensson (13)
Two weeks before Graham Fach won the 2016 PBA Players Championship, Jesper Svensson won the 2016 PBA Tournament of Champions at 20 years of age, breaking Marshall Holman’s record as the youngest player ever to win that event. Nine years and nearly three months later, Svensson claimed the 2025 PBA Tournament of Champions for his second career major title.
Svensson won many titles in those nine years, but had been unable to snag that second major until he, as the top seed, defeated Jakob Butturff (who advanced from the prior evening’s prelims telecast, then defeated Kevin McCune, EJ Tackett and Graham Fach to get to the title match) to claim the Tournament of Champions title for the second time.
Full story on the PBA Tournament of Champions
PBA Elite League: Battle of the Brands powered by Beatbox
Thunderbowl Lanes
Allen Park, Michigan
Winners: Storm (Kyle Troup, Chris Via, Jason Belmonte, Jesper Svensson, François Lavoie)
In the revamped brand-centric PBA Elite League: Battle of the Brands, each brand formed fantasy-sports-style lineups during every singles even on the 2025 PBA Tour to determine seeding into the televised eight-team stepladder baker finals. The top-seeded team, Storm, swept the No. 2 team, Motiv, in a Race to 2 championship match, with Storm winning the inaugural Manufacturer’s Cup.
Full story on the PBA Elite League: Battle of the Brands
PBA Playoffs
Thunderbowl Lanes
Allen Park, Michigan
Winner: Jesper Svensson (14)
Jesper Svensson, seeded seventh in the PBA Playoffs, only had lane choice once—in the opening round—as he worked his way to the Race to 3 championship match. In the earlier Race to 2 rounds, Svensson defeated No. 10 Jakob Butturff in a roll-off, then No. 2 Andrew Anderson in another roll-off, then No. 6 Chris Via in a sweep to get to the finals.
His opponent, far-and-away-top-seed EJ Tackett, received a bye through the opening round, then eliminated No. 9 Anthony Simonsen and No. 4 Graham Fach en route to the championship.
Although the scores weren’t huge, Svensson seemed unstoppable, taking the first two games before Tackett forced a deciding game four, in which Svensson bowled his highest game of the set to win his 14th title.
Full story on the PBA Playoffs
PBA Tour Finals
Steel City Bowl & Brews
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Winner: Andrew Anderson (6)
The final televised singles event of the season appropriately featured Andrew Anderson versus EJ Tackett for the title. They’d bowled on TV three times earlier in the season, twice in title matches, with each player claiming one title from the other and Anderson holding an overall 2-1 edge on the season.
Make it 3-1. In the Race to 2 title match, Anderson rolled 212 twice while Tackett put up 200 and 189, making Anderson the third two-time champion in 2025 and giving him the sixth title of his career.
Full story on the PBA Tour Finals
PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles
Copperfield Bowl
Houston, Texas
Winners: Chris Via (2) and Bryanna Coté (6th PWBA Tour title)
After a strong start to the season in which Chris Via was on two of the first three televised stepladders and finished in the top 10 in three of the first five events (finishing no lower than 17th), he didn’t make another TV appearance in a title event until the PBA Playoffs, in which he finished fourth. He’d been bowling well toward the end of the season and thus it was no surprise he and partner Bryanna Coté were the class of the field in the total-pinfall extravaganza that is the PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles. Via bowled two perfect games during the event (donating both perfect-game bonuses to the X Out Breast Cancer charity the event supports) and earned his second career PBA Tour title while Coté won her sixth PWBA Tour title.
Full story on the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles
Storm Lucky Larsen Masters
Olympia Bowling
Helsingborg, Sweden
Winner: Sean Rash (18)
Sean Rash became the second Hall of Famer of the season to win a title after his induction earlier in the year, triumphing over the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters field to win his 18th PBA Tour title and first since 2021. Despite a right-hand injury that worsened just prior to the title match, Rash devised a go-at-the-head-pin strategy that, combined with his hard-to-conceive-under-the-circumstances accuracy, piled up enough pins to defeat Juho Rissanen in the championship match.
Full story on the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters
Final 2025 PBA Tour Earnings
- EJ Tackett, $438,540.00
- Jesper Svensson, $271,100.00
- Andrew Anderson, $203,781.00
- Jason Belmonte, $190,834.62
- Ethan Fiore, $150,095.00
- Graham Fach, $147,925.00
- Chris Via, $147,684.00
- Tim Foy Jr., $140,625.00
- Jakob Butturff, $115,455.00
- Ryan Barnes, $113,502.00
Final 2025 PBA Tour Points Standings
- EJ Tackett, 34,690
- Andrew Anderson, 18,120
- Jason Belmonte, 15,365
- Graham Fach, 15,181
- Tim Foy Jr., 15,020
- Chris Via, 14,660
- Jesper Svensson, 13,440
- Ethan Fiore, 13,195
- Anthony Simonsen, 13,015
- Jakob Butturff, 12,245
2025 PBA Tour Champions
Majors in bold
Non-title events in italics
PBA Delaware Classic: Graham Fach (second career title)
U.S. Open presented by Go Bowling: EJ Tackett (24, sixth major)
PBA Owen’s Illinois Classic: Santtu Tahvanainen (1)
PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic: EJ Tackett (25)
PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship: Jason Belmonte (32) and Bill O’Neill (15)
PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic presented by Pilgrim’s: Andrew Anderson (5)
PBA Scorpion Championship: Rasmus Edvall (1)
PBA Viper Championship: Darren Ong (1)
PBA Chameleon Championship: Tun Hakim (1)
PBA Shark Championship: EJ Tackett (26)
PBA World Championship: EJ Tackett (27, 7)
USBC Masters: Gary Haines (1, 1)
PBA All-Star Weekend powered by QubicaAMF One-Handers vs. Two-Handers: One-handers
PBA All-Star Weekend powered by QubicaAMF Strike Derby: EJ Tackett
PBA Players Championship: Ethan Fiore (1, 1)
PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila: Jesper Svensson (13, 2)
PBA Elite League: Battle of the Brands powered by Beatbox: Storm
PBA Playoffs: Jesper Svensson (14)
PBA Tour Finals: Andrew Anderson (6)
PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles: Chris Via (2) and Bryanna Coté (6th PWBA title)
Storm Lucky Larsen Masters: Sean Rash (18)