Andres Gomez Extends Lead At 2026 PBA Senior U.S. Open
Greeley, Colorado – Andres Gomez started the first of 12 games of round robin match play on Saturday with perfection at 2026 PBA Senior U.S. Open.
He posted a 5-1 record shooting 300, 178, 278, 214, 268 and 233 for a total pinfall of 1,471.
“It was a great start. In the morning block, the same as Friday, I anticipated every move. I changed balls in game four when I saw my ball was getting a little slow down the lane,” Gomez said. “I went to something quicker and that allowed me to finish the block pretty strong.
It was a bigger challenge later in the afternoon, as Gomez won just two matches with games of 214, 205, 228, 235, 187 and 204 for 1,273. Overall, with 210 bonus pins added to his score, he is leading Chris Barnes by 128 pins.
“The lanes were very tough today. The guys that bowled well are excellent bowlers. I saw a bunch of games in the 170s, so they were U.S. Open tough today,” Gomez said. “All of us saw a lot of change because, during the week it has been kind of cold and today it went over 80. Personally, I saw a lot more friction, especially in the afternoon burn block. That tricked me a little bit and I wasn’t proactive enough to make the change.”
Gomez, who is trying to defend his title at the U.S. Open, doesn’t plan to make the same mistake on Sunday. Instead, he plans to find the best possible ball in his arsenal to help him maintain the top overall seed for the stepladder finals.
Behind Barnes is 2021 Senior U.S. Open champion Tom Hess, who has also won a title at Highland Park Lanes. In fourth place is two-time major PBA50 champion Tom Daugherty followed by Colorado resident Ricky Schissler and Brad Angelo tied in fifth place.
On Sunday, the first six games of round robin match play will start at noon Eastern followed by the final six games at 4:30 p.m. ET to determine the top five. The stepladder finals will start at 8:30 p.m. ET. The winner will collect $15,000 and a major title. You can watch it all only on BowlTV.
Top 10 PBA Senior U.S. Open standings (with bonus pins):
- Andres Gomez, 7,102 total pinfall, 7-5 match play record (+1102)
- Chris Barnes, 6,974, 7-5 (+974)
- Tom Hess, 6,934, 6-6 (+934)
- Tom Daugherty, 6,880, 6-6 (+880)
- Ricky Schissler, 6,839, 6-6 (+839)
- Brad Angelo, 6,839, 5-7 (+839)
- Mario Quintero, 6,827, 8-3-1 (+827)
- Dan Knowlton, 6,764, 8-4 (+764)
- Buddy Mountcastle, 6,729, 9-3 (+729)
- Robert Lawrence, 6,724, 6-6 (+724)