Bowling’s best to be honored

The coronation of the greatest bowler of all time will highlight the Professional Bowlers Association's 50th anniversary celebration this week in Las Vegas during the Tournament of Champions at Red Rock.

The 50 best bowlers, chosen in a nationwide vote, have been announced and will be honored Saturday in a gala celebration, where the ranking of the top two will be revealed. It will be either the late Earl Anthony or current competitor Walter Ray Williams Jr.

Anthony and Williams each won PBA Player of the Year six times. Williams' 45 Tour titles -- including one this season -- are two more than Earl's total.

But, Williams quickly notes, he has bowled in 697 Tour events to Anthony's 389.

"Earl bowled in fewer tournaments and amassed such a great record is why I'd vote for him," said Williams, 49. "I have no problem being second to Earl. What he did was just a little bit better.

"When I started on Tour full time in 1983, I thought I might win a few tournaments and not have to get a 9-to-5 job for a few years."

Williams was 23 when he reached his first televised championship rounds in a 1983 tournament, when Anthony won his 40th title.

Williams, ranked fourth on the 2008-09 PBA Tour, will join 60 other pros at Red Rock when the second of four annual PBA major tournaments opens with qualifying today. The champion crowned Sunday will make $50,000 of the $200,000 prize purse.

In addition to the top touring pros, the field will include legends Mark Roth, Mike Aulby, Carmen Salvino, Nelson Burton Jr. and others.

It is the only major title to elude Williams. Anthony, who was 63 when he died in 2001, won the event twice when it was in Akron, Ohio.

Williams, a California native who lives in Ocala, Fla., said he admires Anthony for his sportsmanship and accomplishments. He also notes Anthony retired from the PBA's primary tour at the peak of his career. Anthony's last season was 1983, when he won his third consecutive top player award.

"Had he had someone before him with 40 or so titles, he probably would have bowled a few more seasons to get that record higher," Williams said.

Anthony returned to competition in 1984 to win the ABC Masters, a PBA major that now is called the U.S. Bowling Congress Masters and will take place Feb. 8 to 15 in a temporary 60-lane facility being constructed at the Cashman Convention Center near downtown Las Vegas.

Williams won that event in 2004 at Reno's National Bowling Stadium.

• NOTES -- Today's eight-game qualifying sessions are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and continue Thursday morning. Match play starts Thursday night, with two sessions Friday, after which the field will be cut to the top four for Sunday's 9:30 a.m. championship rounds, which will be televised live on ESPN (Cable 30).

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.