History on the Line in U.S. Open

The greatest test in professional bowling is about to begin. 

The Go Bowling U.S. Open, held at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis, marks the second major of the 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling.

The U.S. Open championship round will air live at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 8 on The CW.

A major title, the second of five this season, and a $100,000 top prize are at stake.

Players to Watch

When it comes to the U.S. Open at Woodland, two players stand alone in their excellence.

EJ Tackett and Anthony Simonsen have made the finals in all four tournaments since the U.S. Open’s return to Woodland in 2022.

Tackett, who lives an hour and a half north east of Indianapolis, has claimed two of the past three green jackets. He donned his first green jacket in 2023 and added another in 2025 with an incredible comeback. In between, Tackett finished in fourth place.

Simonsen defeated Tackett in the 2022 title match, and the two-hander has finished fourth, second and fifth in the past three years, respectively. Simonsen also won the 2016 USBC Masters at Woodland.

Jason Belmonte, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, has qualified for two of the four Woodland finals and four of the past seven overall. Almost any other player would be thrilled with that résumé — not Belmonte.

Belmonte and Mike Aulby are the only players in tour history to have won all five PBA major championships at least once in their career. Belmonte completed the Super Slam with that 2020 U.S. Open title. 

Additionally, Belmonte has won every major at least three times… except the U.S. Open. A second Super Slam, opening the door for a potential third, would be an unfathomable feat and rank among Belmonte’s greatest achievements.

Kris Prather, the winner of the 2020 PBA Tournament of Champions and 2022 PBA World Championship, is one leg shy of the Triple Crown. He has advanced to match play in three of the past four years, with a best finish of seventh in 2025.

Prather’s doubles teammate, Andrew Anderson, led the U.S. Open almost wire-to-wire last year. The buzzsaw known as EJ Tackett got the best of Anderson in the title match, though Anderson got some form of revenge by defeating Tackett in a pair of non-major title matches later in the season.

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“(The U.S. Open) is going to exploit every weakness every bowler has,” said Graham Fach, who won the PBA Pete Weber Classic on Sunday. “It's normally the hardest competition in bowling. You have to be completely sharp in almost every aspect of your game if you want to have success.”

There are several factors contributing to the challenge of the U.S. Open.

Three different oil patterns are used during qualifying, each designed to confuse bowlers. Bowlers are also limited to a 10-ball arsenal for the duration of qualifying. 

This combination forces players to emphasize strategy, maximize versatility and maintain mental focus.

An additional layer to the equipment restriction was added for this year’s tournament: 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.

This new rule will prove to be most critical during Round 3 of qualifying, which will be contested on a 35-foot oil pattern when most of the field would traditionally use urethane equipment.

Monday’s practice session could be an indication of what is to come this week. Dozens of players threw plastic bowling balls, typically used for spare shots, on the Day 3 oil pattern.

Format

All players will bowl 24 games of qualifying, competing in one eight-game block on a different oil pattern from Tuesday through Thursday.

The top 32 players will then advance to compete Friday morning on a fourth oil pattern, which will be used for the remainder of the tournament. That eight-game round will determine the 24-player match play field.

Round-robin match play begins Friday evening. All players will face each other once before a position round on Saturday night solidifies the five-player field for Sunday’s championship round.

The stepladder finals will air live at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 8 on The CW.

More information on the 2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open is available here.

Tournament Schedule

Monday, March 2
9 a.m. — Oil Pattern #1 practice session
12 p.m. — Oil Pattern #2 practice session
3 p.m. — Oil Pattern #3 practice session
6 p.m. — Oil Pattern #4 practice session

Tuesday, March 3 — Qualifying Round 1 
8 a.m. — A-squad (eight games)
1 p.m. — B-squad (eight games)
6 p.m. — C-squad (eight games)

Wednesday, March 4 — Qualifying Round 2
8 a.m. — B-squad (eight games)
1 p.m. — C-squad (eight games)
6 p.m. — A-squad (eight games)

Thursday, March 5 — Qualifying Round 3
8 a.m. — C-squad (eight games)
1 p.m. — A-squad (eight games)
6 p.m. — B-squad (eight games)

Friday, March 6
8 a.m. — Official practice session — Oil Pattern #4
10 a.m. — Advancers/Cashers Round (eight games)
5 p.m. — Match Play Round 1 (eight games)

Saturday, March 7
10 a.m. — Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
5 p.m. — Match Play Round 3 (eight games)

Sunday, March 8
4 p.m. — Championship Round on The CW