U.S. Open (bowling)

The U.S. Open is one of the four major tournaments in the Professional Bowlers Association. Despite its status as a PBA Tour major, the tournament is open to amateurs as well as PBA members. The U.S. Open is considered one of the most difficult tournaments to bowl in today, due to its long format (56 games from opening qualifying through the match play rounds) and demanding oil pattern, which differs from most oil patterns the PBA employs.

With the exception of 1997 and 2014, the U.S. Open has been held in some form every year since 1942.

The first modern-day U.S. Open tournament in the PBA took place in 1971 and was won by Mike Limongello. Prior to 1971, this event was known as the BPAA All-Star. BPAA All-Star winners in the PBA era (1959–1970) were initially not credited with PBA titles for their victories. A rule change in 2008, however, retroactively awarded titles to the winners if they were PBA members at the time of their victories. With five wins, Pete Weber holds the most U.S. Open trophies of all time, one more than his father, Dick Weber, and Don Carter.

The 1987 U.S. Open, sponsored by Seagram Wine Coolers, offered a then-record total purse of $500,000, and was the first PBA tournament to award a $100,000 winner's share.

Unable to find viable sponsorship, the U.S. Open was canceled for 2014, amid speculation that the tournament may not return at all. However, the USBC and BPAA later reached a three-year agreement that brought the tournament back for 2015, 2016 and 2017. The USBC and BPAA secured Bowlmor AMF, the largest operator of bowling centers in the world, as the title sponsor for 2015. The 2015 tournament took place November 2–8 in Garland, Texas. The 2017 U.S. Open will be held in Liverpool, New York.

The 2016 U.S. Open was held at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, Nevada, with qualifying on November 4–8 and the live televised finals on November 9. Francois Lavoie, a Canadian native who bowled collegiately at Wichita State University, won from the #2 seed position, defeating Marshall Kent in the final match to win his first PBA Tour title and first major championship. Lavoie rolled a perfect 300 game in his semifinal match against Shawn Maldonado. It was the 26th televised 300 game in a PBA Tour event, and the first to be rolled in the finals of the U.S. Open.

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