Nominees Announced for 2026 PBA Player and Rookie of the Year Awards
Based on their performance during the 2026 PBA Tour powered by Go Bowling, 11 players merit consideration for the PBA's two most prestigious player awards.
Ten players have been nominated for 2026 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award consideration, while four players have also qualified for the 2026 Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year award ballot.
Listed in alphabetical order, the nominees for the 2026 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award are: Brandon Bonta, Patrick Dombrowski, Graham Fach, Alex Horton, Marshall Kent, Boog Krol, Spencer Robarge, Anthony Simonsen, EJ Tackett, and Zach Wilkins.
To qualify for the Player of the Year ballot, which can be viewed here, a player must have won at least one PBA Tour title and ranked among the top 10 in earnings during the calendar year. Any player who won multiple titles during the year is automatically added to the ballot.
The award honors the legacy of Schenkel, whose Hall of Fame sports broadcasting career included more than three decades as the voice of the PBA.
Three Players of the Year contenders — Bonta, Horton, and Robarge — were also first-year players. Those three players, along with Austin Grammar, qualified for the Rookie of the Year ballot.
The award honors legendary PBA Tour tournament director Harry “Goose” Golden, who was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1983.
To qualify for the ballot, which can be viewed here, a player must have bowled at least three events and finished in the top five among rookies in points and earnings.
All PBA members are invited to vote for the 2026 PBA Player of the Year and Rookie of Year awards here. Voting is open through Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 12 p.m. ET.
Winners for all 2026 PBA player awards, including the Tony Reyes Community Service and Steve Nagy Sportsmanship awards, will be announced at a later date.
Brandon Bonta
Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 18,023 points, $163,800 earnings, 223.56 average, one title (one major), three top-five finishes, six top-10 finishes, nine top-25 finishes, 12 cashes
Title(s): PBA Players Championship
Bonta made as emphatic an opening statement any rookie has ever made. He qualified for the championship round in the PBA Players Championship, a major, then climbed the stepladder to meet EJ Tackett, the top seed and three-time reigning PBA Player of the Year.
In the title match against Tackett, Bonta fired 12 consecutive strikes to notch the 36th televised perfect game in PBA history.
Four weeks later, Bonta surpassed the single-season rookie earnings record set one year ago by his college teammate, Ryan Barnes. Bonta went on to make four more TV shows and finished top 10 in each of his four major championship appearances.
Bonta ranked third on the tour in points and earnings and seventh in average, each the top mark among rookies.
Patrick Dombrowski
Player of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 17,220 points, $151,250 earnings, 221.01 average, one title (one major), three top-five finishes, four top-10 finishes, nine top-25 finishes, 11 cashes
Title(s): Go Bowling U.S. Open
Dombrowski turned in a career year during his age-47 season.
The veteran won his first career title in style, defeating Anthony Simonsen in the U.S. Open title match.
Dombrowski ranked fifth in points and fourth in earnings this season.
Graham Fach
Player of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 14,835 points, $114,250 earnings, 223.02 average, one title, three top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes, eight top-25 finishes, 12 cashes
Title(s): PBA Pete Weber Classic
Fach earned his second consecutive POTY nomination, sharing that honor with only Tackett, with another sensational season.
Fach finished third in the season-opening PBA Players Championship, then captured his third career title with a win in the following week’s PBA Pete Weber Classic.
The Canadian native finished eighth in points — the highest among left-handed players — and ninth in earnings.
Austin Grammar
Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 7,850 points, $44,100 earnings, 220.66 average, one title, one top-five finish, one top-10 finish, three top-25 finishes, five cashes
Title(s): Surfside PBA New York Classic
Grammar took advantage of the open field in the Surfside New York Classic and emerged from Rochester with his first career title.
The 23-year-old graduate of Webber International University nearly matched Bonta’s dramatic flair and shot a near-perfect 299 game in the title match.
Grammar finished 32nd on tour in points and 29th in earnings, ranking fourth among rookies in both categories.
Alex Horton
Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 11,020 points, $137,300 earnings, 221.29 average, two titles (one major), two top-five finishes, two top-10 finishes, seven top-25 finishes, seven cashes
Title(s): PBA Tournament of Champions, PBA Shark Championship
Horton defied the odds at every turn this season. The 22-year-old emerged from the pre-tournament qualifier to win the PBA Tournament of Champions, becoming the fourth rookie to win a PBA Tour title this season.
In the World Series of Bowling, Horton won four consecutive matches to prevail in the PBA Shark Championship for his second title of the season.
Despite not competing until the fourth title event of the season, Horton finished 18th in points (3rd among rookies) and seventh in earnings (second among rookies).
Marshall Kent
Player of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 13,366 points, $91,875 earnings, 217.35 average, two titles, four top-five finishes, four top-10 finishes, five top-25 finishes, seven cashes
Title(s): PBA Indiana Classic, The Magnum Ice Cream Company PBA Norm Duke Open
An up-and-down season with immense peaks netted Kent his fifth career Player of the Year nomination.
Kent was one of three players to win multiple titles this season, capturing wins in Fort Wayne, Ind. and Bethlehem, Pa. In each victory, he overcame adversity with clutch shot-making and elite spare-shooting.
The Washington state native ranked 11th in points and earnings this season.
Boog Krol
Player of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 15,588 points, $145,100 earnings, 220.47 average, one title (one major), two top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes, five top-25 finishes, nine cashes
Title(s): USBC Masters
For the second time in three years, Krol earned a Player of the Year nomination.
His season climaxed with a top seed and runner-up performance in the PBA Indiana Classic, followed by his third career title a week later in the USBC Masters. Krol defeated Tackett in the title match to claim his first career major title.
Krol ranked seventh in points and fifth in earnings, each the highest finish of his career.
Spencer Robarge
Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 12,720 points, $84,050 earnings, 220.15 average, two titles, four top-five finishes, four top-10 finishes, seven top-25 finishes, nine cashes
Title(s): Pilgrim’s PBA Ohio Classic, Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles (with Annalise OBryant)
Robarge took down last year’s Rookie of the Year and his former college teammate, Ryan Barnes, to win his first title in Columbus. He became the first former PBA Junior national champion to win a PBA Tour title.
This summer, Robarge and the highly decorated Annalise OBryant teamed up to win the Luci. The second title of his rookie season netted the two-handed lefty a nomination for Player and Rookie of the Year.
Robarge ranked 14th in points and 13th in earnings this season. He ranked second and third, respectively, among rookies.
Anthony Simonsen
Player of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 17,983 points, $141,125 earnings, 222.28 average, one title, three top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes, eight top-25 finishes, 11 cashes
Title(s): Groupon PBA Illinois Classic
Simonsen responded from a heart-breaking title match defeat in the U.S. Open with a dominating performance in the Illinois Classic. The 29-year-old fired 11 consecutive strikes to claim the title, the 17th of his still-young career.
Simonsen ranked fourth in points and sixth in earnings. This marks his 10th Player of the Year nomination in 12 career seasons.
EJ Tackett
Player of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 32,335 points, $324,075 earnings, 229.79 average, one title (one major), 10 top-five finishes, 13 top-10 finishes, 17 top-25 finishes, 17 cashes
Title(s): AMF PBA World Championship
The three-time reigning Player of the Year inserted himself into consideration for an unprecedented fourth consecutive honor by leading the season-opening PBA Players Championship. Tackett finished runner-up in that major, as well as the USBC Masters.
In the season’s final major, Tackett prevailed to earn the top seed and title in the AMF PBA World Championship. He not only cemented his status on the Player of the Year ballot with the win, but also achieved the first four-peat in PBA Tour history.
Tackett led the tour in almost every statistic except for titles: points, earnings, average, top-five finishes, top-10 finishes, top-25 finishes and cashes. After coming close in each of the previous two seasons, Tackett broke through to set a new PBA Tour single-season average record as well.
This marks Tackett’s 12th Player of the Year nomination in the past 13 seasons.
Zach Wilkins
Player of the Year nominee
2026 stats: 18,143 points, $196,525 earnings, 224.53 average, two titles, four top-five finishes, eight top-10 finishes, 11 top-25 finishes, 12 cashes
Title(s): Owen's Craft Mixers PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship (with AJ Chapman), PBA Scorpion Championship
Wilkins said on a livestream during a Canadian bowling tournament before the season that he would win multiple titles and be in consideration for Player of the Year — a bold statement for a player without a PBA Tour title to his name at the time.
Wilkins made good on his word by winning his first two career titles. He teamed up with AJ Chapman for an emotional victory in the Roth/Holman Doubles Championship. One week later, he led the Tournament of Champions before falling in the title match.
If his competitors hadn’t already taken notice of his ascension to stardom, Wilkins reminded them during the WSOB. First, he secured his first singles title in a thrilling comeback during the PBA Scorpion Championship.
He later qualified seventh for the extended AMF PBA World Championship stepladder finals. There, he rallied off six consecutive match victories to meet Tackett in the title, where the Canadian came within one shot of a third title.
With two titles and two major runner-up finishes to his name, Wilkins ranked second in points, earnings, and top-10 finishes.
Voting is now open to PBA members here. The 2026 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award winner will be announced later this month.
Recent Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year Winners
EJ Tackett, 2025
EJ Tackett, 2024
EJ Tackett, 2023
Jason Belmonte, 2022
Kyle Troup, 2021
Jason Belmonte, 2020
Jason Belmonte, 2019
Andrew Anderson, 2018
Jason Belmonte, 2017
EJ Tackett, 2016
Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year history
Recent Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year Winners
Ryan Barnes, 2025
Nate Purches, 2024
Cortez Schenck, 2023
Santtu Tahvanainen, 2022
Matt Russo, 2021
not awarded in 2020 due to the pandemic-interrupted season (2020 rookies retained eligibility through 2021)
Mykel Holliman, 2019
Kamron Doyle, 2018
Matt Sanders, 2017
François Lavoie, 2016
