March 23, 2026 Nolan Hughes

USBC Masters Quick Links

While the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament is underway, bowling fans know the best bracket tournament — the USBC Masters — is about to begin at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.

The Masters is the most unique tournament on the PBA calendar. The 64-player double-elimination match play bracket creates the most diverse championship round fields of any PBA major championship.

The same event in which the dominance of Jason Belmonte and Anthony Simonen elevated their names to legendary status can be won by relative unknowns, like recent champions DeeRonn Booker and Gary Haines.

Players to Watch

The aforementioned Belmonte and Simonsen are perennially the two names to watch during Masters week.

Belmonte has won the event a record four times from 2013 to 2017.

The only player who broke Belmonte’s three-peat was 19-year-old Simonsen, who became the youngest major champion in PBA history with his 2016 title.

Simonsen then went back-to-back in 2022 and 2023, the latter of which came at this week’s host venue. Simonsen also finished runner-up to Haines in 2025 at Thunderbowl Lanes.

Haines is primed to be a fixture again this week. As the defending champion, he is guaranteed a berth in the match play bracket.

Since earning the top seed in 2014, EJ Tackett has yet to return to the championship round of the USBC Masters. The tournament is one of two major championships in which he has yet to win and represents the last piece of the Grand Slam.

Only Belmonte, Mike Aulby and Norm Duke have won the Grand Slam, which includes wins of the U.S. Open, PBA World Championship, PBA Tournament of Champions and USBC Masters.

Chris Barnes and Dom Barrett are also a Masters title shy of the Grand Slam.

Patrick Dombrowski, who won the U.S. Open earlier this month, has demonstrated a key understanding of the United States Bowling Congress’ new equipment rules. 

Just like in the Go Bowling U.S. Open earlier this month, the other major championship conducted by the United States Bowling Congress, no “slow oil-absorbing high-performance bowling balls” regardless of the ball’s hardness level are allowed to be used. Essentially, urethane equipment is not allowed.

The veteran Dombrowski also finished runner-up in the 2024 Masters to Booker.

Format

Qualifying for the third major championships of the 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling gets underway on Tuesday.

The near-400-player field is split into three squads, competing at 8 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Squads will rotate through each time between Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

A 41-foot oil pattern will be used for the duration of the tournament. The middle squad of each day will be contested on the burn, meaning the lanes will not be re-oiled after the morning squad.

All players will bowl 15 games of qualifying, then the top 64 players will advance to the vaunted double-elimination match play bracket. Defending champion Gary Haines is guaranteed a berth in the bracket. If he qualifies lower than 64th place, he will be given the No. 64 seed for the bracket.

The player with the higher three-game total pinfall will advance in all matches prior to the championship round. Players will move to the contenders bracket following a loss, where a second loss will result in their elimination from the tournament.

Match play rounds will be contested throughout Friday and Saturday.

All rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

The stepladder finals will air live Sunday, March 29 at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT) on The CW.

Tournament Schedule

All times Eastern

Tuesday, March 24 — BowlTV
8 a.m. — A-squad Qualifying Round 1 (5 games, fresh)
12:30 p.m. — B-squad Qualifying Round 1 (5 games, burn)
6:30 p.m. — C-squad Qualifying Round 1 (5 games, fresh)

Wednesday, March 25  — BowlTV
8 a.m. — B-squad Qualifying Round 2 (5 games, fresh)
12:30 p.m. — C-squad Qualifying Round 2 (5 games, burn)
6:30 p.m. — A-squad Qualifying Round 2 (5 games, fresh)

Thursday, March 26 — BowlTV
8 a.m. — C-squad Qualifying Round 3 (5 games, fresh)
12:30 p.m. — A-squad Qualifying Round 3 (5 games, burn)
6:30 p.m. — B-squad Qualifying Round 3 (5 games, fresh)

Friday, March 27 — BowlTV
10 a.m. — Left side of bracket (fresh)
12:30 p.m. — Right side of bracket (fresh)
2:30 p.m. — All winners (burn)
5 p.m. — Contenders bracket matches (fresh and burn)

Saturday, March 28 — BowlTV
10 a.m. — Winners and Contenders bracket matches (fresh and burn)
2 p.m. — Winners and Contenders bracket matches (fresh)

Sunday, March 29 — The CW
4 p.m. — Finals