2022 Masters, Qualifying Day 2
Brandon Novak takes the lead and PBA stars climb on Day 2 of the Masters. Plus, a Storm-Six update.
Remember when I danced between picking Matt Russo or Andrew Anderson to win the Masters? Well, I goofed up.
Through two days of qualifying, Anderson sits in sixth place overall at +200. Russo is in 232nd at -97. Damn.
The new leader is Brandon Novak, the man who swing plane gives arthritics everywhere anxiety. He sits at +279 after 10 games; Novak and Chris Via are the only two players in the field to shoot over 1,100 in both blocks.
Rounding out the top-five are Day 1 leader Mykel Holliman (+271), Via (+230), EJ Tackett (+214) and Kevin McCune (+212). Full standings available here.
The cut number rose just two pins to +48. Defending champion Thomas Larsen falls outside the cut at -7; he’ll be awarded the 64-seed for match play if that remains true after Day 3 of qualifying.
There are 23 players from A-squad, 19 from B-squad and 21 from C-squad inside the cut. Among the top-25, eight are on A-squad, six on B-squad and 11 from C-squad.
The four leaders and 10 of the top-16 are on C-squad, but I think that’s more indicative of their talent than any advantage on that particular squad. We’re talking PBA champions in Via, Tackett, Matt Sanders, Anthony Simonsen and Jason Belmonte, plus players who have made PBA telecasts like Novak, Holliman and Steve Kloempken.
Through two days, only A-squad has avoided the burn (which they will obviously bowl on today).
A few notable players (in terms of the PBA Playoff race) still on the outside looking in: Kyle Sherman (+44), Jesper Svensson (+22), Kris Prather (+9), Bill O’Neill (-3), Jason Sterner (-10), Dom Barrett (-26) and Nick Pate (-29).
Quick Storm-Six update — Has anyone called it that yet? — the PBA announced all six USBC-banned balls will be legal to use in PBA competition through the 2022 season. PBA commissioner Tom Clark told 11thframe.com the PBA has done its own testing, and none of the Storm-Six were found to be illegal. Clark also said “USBC did not involve PBA in this (Storm balls ban) at all, did not inform us until the press release went out, and provided no information.”
It’s clear this saga is far from over.
Scattered Day 3 Predictions
To paraphrase Keven Williams: I finally got one!
I almost struck out on yesterday’s predictions — which were admittedly ridiculous by nature — but I got one correct: Exactly six PBA stars jumped inside the cut on Day 2. Jake Peters, Packy Hanrahan, AJ Johnson, Jason Belmonte, Kyle Troup and Sean Rash all made huge leaps.
Onto today’s predictions:
One of Novak or Holliman leads qualifying.
Jakob Butturff (31st; +94) jumps into the top-10.
Someone from outside the top-150 sneaks into the cut.
Could be one of: Dom Barrett (-26), Nick Pate (-29), Spencer Robarge (-30) or Brandon Curtis (-37)
Cristian Azcona shoots 189 in Game 1 of Day 3.
Jake Peters is the cut number.
Bill O’Neill and Jason Sterner drop out of the PBA Playoffs.