Mark Williams wins PBA Senior Open despite ‘tough’ lanes

The bowling balls were made of urethane and not rubber, and the lanes were sheets of a synthetic material and not wood boards.

Beyond that, the championship elimination rounds of the PBA Senior U.S. Open on Friday at Suncoast were a throwback to an era when challenging lane conditions produced lower scores and accuracy was more important than power and spin.

Only one of the six games rolled in the step-ladder finals was above 200, and that belonged to tournament winner Mark Williams, a 52-year-old who also rolled the event's only two perfect games.

There were eight open frames, six missed spares and 11 times when bowlers mustered seven or fewer pins on their first rolls.

"This house is notoriously tough, and the (oil) pattern they put down was challenging as well," said Ron Mohr, who lost 198-181 to Williams in the championship game. "There definitely was a correlation between skill and score."

Williams played the pair of lanes radically different -- around the 15th board on lane 55 and about 13 boards right near the gutter on lane 56.

"My best chance was to play the pair like that," said Williams, of Beaumont, Texas. The PBA Hall of Fame member owns seven regular PBA Tour titles, including three majors.

Williams earned $15,000 by winning this third PBA Senior Tour title in three years.

"I'm very impressed. He did a phenomenal job," said reigning PBA Senior player of the year Mohr, who has not won a tournament this year. "Obviously I'm disappointed I didn't win, but I'm encouraged with how I bowled overall here. I won some big matches to get this far. Hopefully I've turned the corner for the rest of the season."

Senior rookie Don Moser of Murietta, Calif., lost to Dave Ferraro of Kingston, N.Y., 194-177 in the opening match. Ferraro, another rookie, was eliminated in the next game by Williams, 221-188.

Kerry Painter of Henderson placed 13th for the top finish among Southern Nevadans.

Nearly all of the 228 Open competitors will bowl in the U.S. Bowling Congress Senior Masters, which begins with practice Sunday at South Point and wraps up Friday. Among the 260 entrants is Walter Ray Williams Jr., who owns 48 PBA Tour titles and turned 50 in October to become eligible for senior competition.

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