2007–08 PBA Tour season explained

PBA Bowling Tour: 2007–08 Season
League:	Professional Bowlers Association
Sport:	Ten-pin bowling
Duration:	September 23, 2007 – March 30, 2008
Season:	PBA Tour
Mvp:	Chris Barnes
Seasonslist:	Professional Bowlers Association Seasons
Seasonslistnames:	PBA Tour
Prevseason Link:	PBA Bowling Tour: 2006–07 season
Prevseason Year:	2006–07
Nextseason Link:	PBA Bowling Tour: 2008–09 season
Nextseason Year:	2008–09

This is the 2007–08 season in review for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). It was the Tour's 49th season and consisted of 21 events.^[1]

Season highlights

• Chris Barnes made the final match in four tournaments, winning two titles en route to PBA Player of the Year honors. This marked the first PBA season that a points system (not a player vote) determined Player of the Year.^[2]
• Sean Rash became the second bowler (Hugh Miller was the other) to win titles in his first four televised appearances, as he captured his first major title at the USBC Masters in November.^[3]
• Walter Ray Williams, Jr. won two titles early in the season, raising his all-time PBA leading total to 44. This gave Williams a title in 15 straight seasons, tying Earl Anthony's 1970–84 streak. Williams also led the tour in average, setting the second-highest season mark in history at 228.34.^[4]
• Norm Duke completed a stunning comeback from an injury-marred first half (which put him in danger of losing his tour exemption) to win the last two majors of the season (PBA World Championship and 65th U.S. Open).^[5]
• Rookie Rhino Page set a record by making five televised finals while starting from the Tour Qualifying Round (TQR). He won his first PBA title in the Go RVing Classic – his fifth trip to the finals.^[6]
• Michael Haugen Jr. overcame a 53-pin sixth-frame deficit against Chris Barnes to win the H&R Block Tournament of Champions.
• Rob Stone took over play-by-play duties from Dave Ryan on ESPN broadcasts of the PBA Tour. 13-time PBA titleist Randy Pedersen continued as the on-air analyst.

Awards and leaders

• Player Of The Year: Chris Barnes
• Rookie Of The Year: Rhino Page
• High Average Award: Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (228.34)
• Money Leader: Norm Duke ($176,855)

Tournament results

• Majors are noted in boldface.

Date	Event	City	Oil pattern	Winner (title #)	Runner-up	Score
Sep 23			Standard	Mika Koivuniemi (8)	Mike Wolfe	200–178
Oct 28	USBC Masters		Standard	Sean Rash (4)		269–245
Nov 4	Motor City Classic		Viper	Walter Ray Williams Jr. (43)		214–194
Nov 11	Etonic Championship		Scorpion	Mike Wolfe (3)		256–225
Nov 18	Lake County Indiana Classic		Chameleon	Michael Haugen Jr. (1)		247–239
Nov 25	CLR Windy City Classic		Shark	Robert Smith (7)		223–205
Dec 2	Great Lakes Classic		Cheetah	Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (44)		276–204
Dec 9	Lumber Liquidators Championship		Scorpion	Patrick Allen (10)		247–217
Dec 16	Spartanburg Classic		Viper	Parker Bohn III (31)		267–257
Jan 6	ConstructionJobs.com Classic		Shark	Tommy Jones (11)		254–214
Jan 13	Earl Anthony Medford Classic		Cheetah	Wes Malott (3)		255–193
Jan 20	Motel 6 Dick Weber Open		Standard	Mike Scroggins (4)		226–171
Jan 27	H&R Block Tournament of Champions		T of C	Michael Haugen Jr. (2)		215-214
Feb 3	PBA Exempt Doubles Classic	Las Vegas, NV	T of C	Danny Wiseman (12) and Mike Fagan (1)	Joe Ciccone and Ronnie Russell	210–208
Feb 10	Bayer Classic		Shark	Chris Barnes (9)		241–158
Feb 17	Pepsi Championship		Scorpion	Mike Scroggins (5)		214–194
Feb 24	Denny's World Championship		World Championship	Norm Duke (27)		202–165
Mar 2	Don Johnson Buckeye St. Classic		Viper	Chris Barnes (10)		209–197
Mar 9	Go RVing Classic		Chameleon	Rhino Page (1)		244–220
Mar 23	GEICO Classic		Cheetah	Tommy Jones (12)		257–191
Mar 30	65th U.S. Open		U.S. Open	Norm Duke (28)		224–216

Marking the end of the 2007–08 PBA season on ESPN, the fourth annual Motel 6 Roll To Riches was contested on April 13, 2008 in Orlando. In a unique format, six bowlers (Doug Kent, Sean Rash, Michael Haugen Jr., Norm Duke, Parker Bohn III and Chris Barnes) battled for a $150,000 winner-take-all prize. Parker Bohn III won the final "race to six strikes" against Norm Duke to take home the prize. (Earnings in this event do not count toward PBA career totals.)

External links

• 2007–08 Season Schedule

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2007–2008 Season Schedule . PBA.
2. Web site: Chris Barnes profile . PBA.
3. Web site: Sean Rash profile . PBA.
4. Web site: Walter Ray Williams Jr profile . PBA.
5. Web site: Norm Duke profile . PBA.
6. Web site: Rhino Page profile . PBA.