EJ Tackett Maintains Lead in AMF PBA World Championship
Sixteen players remain in title contention for the final major championship of the 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling season.
EJ Tackett leads the AMF PBA World Championship, the finale of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVII, through 50 games at Bowlero Brooklyn Park in Minneapolis.
Tackett, the three-time defending champion in the event, has a total pinfall of 11,316 and has averaged more than 226 across five different oil patterns.
Major champions Chris Via, Brandon Bonta, Jason Belmonte, Kris Prather, and Bill O’Neill round out the top six.
Darren Tang, Jason Sterner and Zach Wilkins sit in seventh through ninth place, respectively, which would put them in position to advance to the stepladder finals.
Thomas Larsen, Mitch Hupé, Ryan Barnes, Patrick Dombrowski, Packy Hanrahan, Hayden Stippich, and Deo Benard also advanced to Wednesday’s final day of competition.
Players will bowl 16 games of round-robin match play to determine the nine players advancing to the stepladder finals, which will be held June 13 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
Complete standings in the World Championship are available here.
Though Tackett leads the tour in competition points by a significant margin, he has yet to win a title this season. He did not mince words, nor try to deflect from his lack of a title.
“I'm out here to win,” Tackett said. “I step into the building with the focus of winning, no matter what is on the line. I've bowled really, really well this year. There have been a couple of shows where I made some mistakes, and a couple times where guys bowled all the strikes against me, and then a pesky 10-pin (in the Masters). I'm going to put myself back in that position, bowl a good game, and hope it's good enough at the end of the day to hoist a trophy.”
With a historic fourth consecutive World Championship title on the line, a feat no player has achieved in PBA history, Tackett is acutely aware of the stakes in this tournament.
“Of course, I've thought about it,” Tackett said of winning a fourth consecutive World Championship title, “It fueled me to practice more. No matter what happens, I’ll know that at the end of the season that I did everything I possibly could. There was no laziness. I put everything I had into (my preparation). I can hang my head high that I did everything I possibly could, whether it works out or not.”
“I'm here to do a job, and that job is to win. If I'm able to do that, there might be some cool stuff that comes along with it. But at the end of the day, I have to stay focused on trying to win that championship and not worry about the other stuff. If you go do your job and you win, that stuff usually takes care of itself.”
Bill O’Neill, a three-time major champion and PBA Hall of Famer, is in sixth place after 50 games. He trails Tackett by 239 pins, but holds an 80-pin cushion over ninth place and a 144-pin advantage over 10th place.
O’Neill advanced to the 12-player bracket finals in the Cheetah Championship. He narrowly missed the finals on Chamelelon (14th place) and cashed on Scorpion (30th place) and Shark (30th place).
“I think I've bowled pretty well, and I’m certainly happy with my performance so far,” O’Neill said. Physically, I feel really good and am making a lot of really good shots. The thing that's keeping me from getting closer to that, second, third, or fourth area is decision making. I'm starting out a lot of games and giving away pins. I’m getting in the right spot (of the lanes, or making the) right ball changes. That's something I'm gonna have to really get dialed in tomorrow.”
O’Neill, who ranks 26th this season in points, said he is not satisfied with his results this season. He started the season with finishes of 11th, seventh and sixth despite battling a leg injury. But he finished between 27th and 39th in the next four events.
“I'm physically bowling really well in the way that I like to bowl, but right now with the way my ball rolls, I'm not stringing enough strikes,” O’Neill said. “I have to adjust my game in order to compete on what we ball on out here. It's not something that suits my game to the level I would like it to, and have the results that I would like. I’m leaving too many corner pins and leaving too many splits when the shot is not right, and it’s really hard to keep up that way. This offseason is going to have to be something where I try to get my ball roll to be a little bit more forward in order to try to keep up out here.”
This week, O’Neill said he feels his game matches up better with the inherent characteristics of Bowlero Brooklyn Park.
He will look to utilize that to his advantage during the final 16 games of match play on Wednesday.
Match play rounds will be held at 11 a.m. CT (12 p.m. ET) and 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) and will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
The top nine players after all 66 games will advance to the stepladder finals, which will be held Saturday, June 13 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
AMF PBA World Championship Standings | 50 Games
- EJ Tackett, 11,316 pinfall, 226.32 average
- Chris Via, 11,259, 225.18
- Brandon Bonta, 11,222, 224.44
- Jason Belmonte, 11,174, 223.48
- Kris Prather, 11,105, 222.1
- Bill O'Neill, 11,077, 221.54
- Darren Tang, 11,025, 220.5
- Jason Sterner, 11,016, 220.32
- Zach Wilkins, 10,997, 219.94
- Thomas Larsen, 10,933, 218.66
- Mitch Hupé, 10,922, 218.44
- Ryan Barnes, 10,912, 218.24
- Patrick Dombrowski, 10,892, 217.84
- Packy Hanrahan, 10,887, 217.74
- Hayden Stippich, 10,881, 217.62
- Deo Benard, 10,875, 217.5
- Santtu Tahvanainen, 10,872, 217.44
- Kyle Sherman, 10,871, 217.42
- Tommy Jones, 10,858, 217.16
- Cam Crowe, 10,834, 216.68
- Sean Rash, 10,832, 216.64
- Ronnie Russell, 10,829, 216.58
- Arturo Quintero, 10,827, 216.54
- Tomas Käyhkö, 10,825, 216.5
- Tom Smallwood, 10,820, 216.4
Complete standings are available here.
PBA World Series of Bowling XVII Schedule
Wednesday, May 6 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — World Championship Match Play Round 1 (8 games)
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — World Championship Match Play Round 2 (8 games)
Top nine players advance to World Championship televised rounds on June 13
Saturday, May 9 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Ballard Championship finals
3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) — PBA Cheetah Championship semifinals
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA Cheetah Championship finals
Sunday, May 10 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Monacelli Championship finals
3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) — PBA Chameleon Championship semifinals
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA Chameleon Championship finals
Monday, May 11 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Petraglia Championship finals
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — PBA Scorpion Championship semifinals
8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) — PBA Scorpion Championship finals
Tuesday, May 12 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA50 World Championship finals
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — PBA Shark Championship semifinals
8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) — PBA Shark Championship finals
Saturday, June 13 — Thunderbowl Lanes — CBS and Paramount+
11 a.m. ET — AMF PBA World Championship semifinals
1 p.m. ET — AMF PBA World Championship finals