September 26, 2026 Anonymous (not verified)

Brandon Bonta of Wichita, Kan. has been voted the 2026 Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year award winner.

Bonta received 58.78% of votes among PBA members and media.

Austin Grammar, Alex Horton, and Spencer Robarge also earned nominations for the 2026 Rookie of the Year award.

Horton, who won two titles including a major in the PBA Tournament of Champions, finished second in voting at 32.97%. Robarge won two standard titles and Grammar also won a standard title.

This is the winningest rookie class in PBA Tour history with four champions and six combined titles.

The 23-year-old Bonta won one title, making an emphatic statement during the season-opening PBA Players Championship.

As the No. 4 seed, Bonta climbed the stepladder by defeating fellow rookie and former collegiate teammate Spencer Robarge, mutli-time major champion Jesper Svensson, and two-time Player of the Year nominee Graham Fach to reach the title match.

Against the now-four-time reigning PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett, Bonta shot the 36th televised perfect game in PBA history to claim the major title.

"Brandon Bonta beating EJ Tackett with a perfect game in his first-ever pro tournament to win the PBA Players Championship is a career-defining moment on its own," said PBA CEO Pete Murray. "Adding the Rookie of the Year award to that, and it's been quite a season for Brandon.”

“Just as exciting is what Brandon represents for the future of the PBA. He is part of an emerging wave of young talent coming through the college ranks and the PBA ELITE Regional Tour who are ready to compete with the best players in the world and shape the sport.”

In making a compelling case for the greatest rookie season in PBA Tour history, Bonta ranked first among rookies and third among all players with 18,023 points and $163,800 in earnings.

He broke the single-season rookie earnings record, set one year ago by his college teammate Ryan Barnes, during the fifth title event of the season.

In his four major championship appearances, Bonta finished first, sixth, fifth and seventh. He did not advance out of the pre-tournament qualifier in the U.S. Open.

Bonta made five TV shows and earned six top-10 finishes, nine top-25 finishes, and 11 cashes in 17 title events. He averaged 223.56 in 333 total games.

The PBA Rookie of the Year Award is named after legendary PBA Tour tournament director Harry “Goose” Golden, who was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1983.

Recent Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year Winners:
Brandon Bonta, 2026
Ryan Barnes, 2025
Nate Purches, 2024
Cortez Schenck, 2023
Santtu Tahvanainen, 2022
Matt Russo, 2021
Not awarded, 2020
Mykel Holliman, 2019
Kamron Doyle, 2018
Matt Sanders, 2017
François Lavoie, 2016

Complete list of Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year award winners