Anthony Simonsen Wins the 2022 Masters
The 25-year-old claimed his fourth career major title amidst one of the craziest weeks in recent bowling memory.
Anthony Simonsen bucks conventional wisdom. He zigs when others zag. He exhausts all possible options, then invents ones — like when he won a PBA title throwing a backup ball.
The 25-year-old is the world’s most versatile bowler, and he’s on his way to becoming one of its most accomplished.
Simonsen defeated the immortal Norm Duke to secure the 2022 USBC Masters title. He qualified as the tournament’s top-seed, ran through the winners bracket until Duke relegated him to the two-seed, then emerged from the stepladder as a two-time Masters champion.
He’s now the youngest player to win four major titles, just as he was the youngest player to win three major titles… and the youngest player to win two major titles… and the youngest player to win one major title.
Today, Simonsen upstaged Duke’s quest to become the oldest major champion.
Tomorrow? Who’s to say — he’s just begun his assault on the record books.
“He’s a rare, rare individual,” Jason Belmonte said after beating Simonsen for the PBA Scorpion Championship last month. “Every time I win and he congratulates me, I say ‘I have to do this, because you're going to pass me. I have to keep pushing myself to get more because you're going to get there.’”
Simonsen turned 25 in January and already boasts four major titles; Belmonte didn’t join the PBA Tour until he was 25.
Considering no one else has won more than 10 majors, Simonsen winning 14 sounds impossible. But when has he ever cared about what was possible?
Simonsen threw his title-clinching strike with a Roto Grip UPROAR, a 2014 release he drilled to replace one of the balls USBC banned after the first day of qualifying.
During the second match, Randy Pedersen addressed the black cloud lingering over the Masters, and perhaps the most pressing controversy in modern bowling. He called the timing of USBC’s decision to ban six of Storm’s reactive balls “unfathomable,” and questioned the integrity (lol) of their testing.
After hoisting the trophy, Simonsen dedicated his win to Bill and Barbara Chrisman, the founders of Storm. “They can’t stop us!” he screamed deep into the camera’s soul.
Simonsen’s victory marked his second major title of 2022, closing the gap on a Player of the Year race I preemptively declared finished.
Belmonte’s four titles this season double Simonsen’s total -- could two major titles and a PBA Playoffs win be enough to close the gap?
Simonsen is inarguably one of the greatest young talents in modern sports. His abilities and accolades rival that of Patrick Mahomes, A'ja Wilson, Luka Dončić and the recently-retired Ashleigh Barty.
Take away the right side, and he’ll win on the left. Take away his modern equipment, and he’ll win with a fossil.
The audacity of Anthony Simonsen knows no bounds.
Is there going to be a summer swing?