The 2022 US Open Show is Magnificent

EJ Tackett, Anthony Simonsen, AJ Johnson, Jake Peters and Jason Belmonte make up a star-studded, narrative-filled field for tomorrow's major telecast.

What. A. Finish.

While EJ Tackett and Anthony Simonsen ran away with the top two seeds for the show, chaos ensued beneath them.

AJ Johnson entered the final eight-game block 16 pins out of the show, but charged up the leaderboard to snag the third seed. Jake Peters — I mean, what is there left to say about Jake Peters. He earned the fourth seed, but bowling was probably the furthest thing from his mind when he woke up today.

Lucas Wiseman @Lucas_Wiseman

I can't even imagine what making this U.S. Open show means to Jake Peters. Competing today on what would have been his late wife Melissa's 35th birthday. Such a range of emotions. Happy for you @Jakey_Boy879.

That left the final spot up for grabs. With four games to go, it looked like Tom Daugherty’s to lose. Jason Belmonte had slipped 178 pins out of the show, and 185 pins behind Daugherty in 4th. But Belmonte erased the entire deficit within two games. GOAT shit.

Entering the last game, a new contender had emerged. Tommy Jones rose from the ashes to creep within 30 pins of Belmonte, while Daugherty sat 16 pins back of the Australian.

Belmonte opened with a spare, then rolled a six-bagger to take command — I can’t say that word with a straight face anymore — to take control. Two errant shots in the middle of the game cost Daugherty the position round match, and Jones couldn’t muster the 260+ game he needed.

Belmo makes his 31st career appearance on a major telecast in 58 events. GOAT shit.

---

Tomorrow’s telecast is the exact group of bowlers I wanted to see. In fact, my prediction for the final show after the second day of qualifying is better than any of my opening guesses in Wordle.

🟩 🟩 ⬜️ 🟩 🟨

The official stepladder will be as follows, and it’s littered with juicy storylines.

1. EJ Tackett

2. Anthony Simonsen

3. AJ Johnson

4. Jake Peters

5. Jason Belmonte

Tackett and Simonsen aim for their third career major title and try to stake their claim as the second-greatest bowler of this era.

Johnson looks to shed the unofficial of “best bowler in the world without a title,” while Peters will shoot for his career major title and first title overall since 2013. Tears will be shed if either of these two guys win.

And then there’s Belmonte, who will need to climb the ladder for the second time this season to claim major title #15.

You’d be hard pressed to script a better set of narratives for the US Open, arguably the most prestigious title in bowling.

It all begins at 5 pm EST on FS1. I can’t wait.