Jakob Butturff Wins PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open Title

8/13/2016

LUBBOCK, Texas - Jakob Butturff, a 22- year-old lefthander who won't complete his first full year of Professional Bowlers Association competition until next month, won the PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open
at South Plains Lanes, nipping Houston's Shawn Maldonado in the title match, 207-205. Butturff, who has an unorthodox delivery that generates significant strike power, used a late double to pull even with Maldonado, and then struck on his fill ball in the 10th frame to force the Houston two-handed player to double for the win. Maldonado's bid for his first PBA Tour title ended when the 4 pin stood
on his try for a second strike in the 10th.

"I'm feeling great for once," Butturff said. "Winning that first title feels great. We were basically going at the same pace in the title match, but eventually, my fill shot in the 10th was the whole thing." Butturff, who finished fourth in the PBA Viper Championship and fifth in the PBA Chameleon Championship during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII in December in Reno, earned $20,000 for his
first title.

He rolled into the lead with a 6-2 match play record and some keen observations.
"I was watching Gary Faulkner Jr. bowl for a couple of games and I tried to stay in the same zone he was in, and that was most successful for me," Butturff said. "I tried that (Saturday) and it worked, so I did it again today, and it worked out perfectly."

Faulkner, also a lefthander, won the 2015
PBA World Championship in Reno.
Butturff also was well aware of the success
a couple of other young players have had in PBA competition earlier in the year. Sweden's Jesper Svensson became the youngest player ever to win the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions at age 20 in February, and 19-year- old Anthony Simonson of Princeton, Texas, became the youngest ever to win a PBA major title in the USBC Masters.
"I just wanted to go out and prove I could compete with some of the best," Butturff said. "I wanted to keep up with Jesper and Anthony, and prove the young guns can win out here on tour."

Article was posted with permission from Stars & Strikes, America's Bowling Newsmagazine. www.starsandstrikesbowling.com