François Lavoie Shatters PBA Tour Record During Pilgrim's PBA Ohio Classic
The torrid scoring pace of the Pilgrim's PBA Ohio Classic, held at Columbus Square Bowling Palace in Ohio, made the fall of at least one PBA Tour scoring record feel inevitable.
Tournament leader Ryan Barnes throws pins around like few on the tour, even when he’s not trying his hardest.
EJ Tackett is a threat to break a record every time he competes these days, and Packy Hanrahan came close to setting the 12-game scoring record in Delaware a few years ago.
It’s more often a surprise when uber-powerful southpaws Graham Fach, Spencer Robarge and Cam Crowe don’t knock down all 10 pins.
But François Lavoie?
The Canadian star has won two U.S. Open titles and the PBA Tournament of Champions, but he’s best known for his shot-making and finesse. He doesn’t have the power nor the rev rate to string together strikes at a record-breaking rate, right?
If that is what you are thinking, well, you wouldn’t be alone. But you — and Lavoie himself — would be wrong.
“I would agree with them, first of all. I wouldn't think I would be the one to break a scoring record,” Lavoie said.
With games of 290, 226, 300, 299, 299 and 277 during the fourth round of Pilgrim’s PBA Ohio Classic qualifying, Lavoie indeed set the PBA Tour six-game scoring record with 1,691.
Lavoie broke the previous record (1,635 by Norm Duke and Dave Wodka) by 56 pins.
“It was surreal. It was crazy,” Lavoie said. “I was in the zone. You kind of get in autopilot mode when something like that happens. The end goal is still this tournament, and I want to do well in this tournament, so I was really focused on my process, going through the pre-shot routine, positive self talk, even the post-shot routine of sitting in the same chair. That's really where my focus was. I didn't really think about scores or anything like that, but it worked out pretty well. I’m happy it happened, and happy I'm in a good spot in the tournament.”
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Ryan Barnes led the 120-player field through qualifying, finishing with a total pinfall of 6,061 on the 47-foot Dragon oil pattern.
Barnes and Lavoie were tied at 1,115 through the first four games of Qualifying Round 4.
Barnes trailed off with games of 196 and 214 — two games he would surely like back after finishing 48 pins shy of Pete Weber’s 24-game scoring record — while Lavoie struck on 20 of his final 23 shots to surge past the record.
Packy Hanrahan (6,030) sits in second place, averaging north of 251 for his 24 games.
Lavoie moved from 32nd place to third on the day, averaging 266.67 for his dozen games on Wednesday.
Southpaws Graham Fach, Spencer Robarge and Cam Crowe round out the top six.
EJ Tackett, the three-time reigning PBA Player of the Year, ranks seventh.
Kyle Sherman, Matt Russo and Columbus-area native Chris Via round out the top 10.
The top 40 players return to Columbus Square Bowling Palace at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday for six more games.
Bailey Mavrick (5,594) eclipsed Kyle Troup by six pins to earn the final berth in the cut.
Troup entered the week with aspirations of winning his first PBA Tour title in two years in the very building where his father, Guppy Troup, won the 1984 Budweiser Classic.
The top 16 players will move on to the second advancer round on Thursday evening.
The top five players after 36 games are completed will advance to Sunday’s championship round.
The stepladder finals will air live Sunday, April 5 at 4 p.m. ET on The CW.
All qualifying rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
The PBA USA vs. The World event, marking the debut of the PBA on CBS and Paramount+, will air Saturday, April 4 at 2 p.m. ET.
Qualifying Round 4 Leaders | 24 Games
- Ryan Barnes, 6,061 pinfall, 252.54 average
- Packy Hanrahan, 6,030, 251.25
- François Lavoie, 6,014, 250.58
- Graham Fach, 5,944, 247.67
- Spencer Robarge, 5,903, 245.96
- Cam Crowe, 5,898, 245.75
- EJ Tackett, 5,897, 245.71
- Kyle Sherman, 5,877, 244.88
- Matt Russo, 5,875, 244.79
- Chris Via, 5,856, 244.00
Complete standings are available here.
Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern
Thursday, April 2 — BowlTV
11 a.m. — Advancer Round 1 (six games)
6 p.m. — Advancer Round 2 (six games)
Saturday, April 4 — CBS and Paramount+
2 p.m. — PBA USA vs. The World
Sunday, April 5 — The CW
4 p.m. — Pilgrim’s PBA Ohio Classic finals
More information on the Pilgrim’s PBA Ohio Classic is available here.