Smallwood stalks PBA title

Tom Smallwood, a former laid-off auto worker who has soared to pro bowling success, advanced to today's finals of the $1 million PBA Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes.

Smallwood, 32, of Saginaw, Mich., won the 2009 PBA World Championship. After being laid off by General Motors, he tried his hand at pro bowling and earned a season-long PBA Tour exemption that resulted in his victory worth $50,000.

Smallwood will play for a PBA-record $250,000 first prize today. He won his first 13 matches Friday and went 14-2 for the day to lift his top-qualifying pinfall to 13,606 -- 61 better than Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, Fla.

Joining Smallwood and Daugherty in the ABC-televised stepladder finals at 11:30 a.m. today were Mika Koivuniemi of Hartland, Mich., and Andres Gomez, a Colombian citizen who lives in Weston, Fla.

Daugherty is a four-time PBA Regional title winner. Koivuniemi, a native of Finland, owns eight PBA Tour titles, including two major championships.