Tommy Jones (bowler)

Tommy Jones (born November 2, 1978) is an American professional bowler currently on the PBA Tour (Professional Bowlers Association).^[1]

Jones, who is right-handed, has been one of the most competitive pros on the PBA Tour over the past decade. He has won over $1.5 million in PBA prize money during his 14 full seasons on tour, including over $300,000 in the 2005–06 season alone. Jones won the PBA Rookie of the Year Award for the 2001–02 season, and the PBA Player of the Year Award following the 2005–06 season. Jones's style is often described as that of a cranker due to his high backswing and rev rate, although some coaches (such as John Jowdy) describe him as a power stroker due to his smooth slide-step and release. He is a member of the Ebonite Pro Staff, and has rolled 32 perfect 300 games in PBA competition.

Jones is a current resident of Simpsonville, South Carolina.^[2] He is married to Nikki Jones, and has one daughter from a previous marriage.

PBA career history

Jones joined the PBA in 2000. He currently owns 17 PBA Tour titles, two of them major championships.^[1] He won his first 12 titles in just 20 TV Finals appearances.

2004–05 season

After making the TV finals just four times over his first three full seasons on the PBA Tour and failing to win a title, Jones had his breakout season in 2004–05. Jones made the cut to match play in 20 of 21 events and was perfect in the TV finals, winning the title in all four of his final round appearances. He won $224,130 on the season, which was more than his previous three full seasons (66 tournaments) combined. Despite the four tournament wins, Jones finished runner-up to Patrick Allen in the 2004–05 Player of the Year race.

2005–06 season

The 2005–06 season was his best to date, as he cashed in 20 of 21 events, made match play in 19 events, made the TV finals six times, won four titles, and posted a career-best $301,700 in earnings.^[3] He won his first career major in this season, at the 63rd U.S. Open.

In 2005, Jones stopped Liz Johnson in her efforts to become the first female to win a national PBA tour event. After Johnson defeated Wes Malott in the semifinals of the 2005 Banquet Open, she came up short against Tommy in the final, 219–192.^[4][5]

In this season, Jones had a 15-game TV match win streak snapped, falling one short of the all-time record set by Jim Pencak. Upon winning the 2005–06 Player of the Year award, Jones joined Mike Aulby as the only players to win both the PBA Player of the Year and PBA Rookie of the Year awards. Chris Barnes and Jason Belmonte would later also earn this distinction.^[1]

2006–07 season

In 2006–07, Jones captured two more titles (9th and 10th overall), including his second major at the H&R Block Tournament of Champions.^[1]

2007–08 season

With his 11th tournament win at the 2008 ConstructionJobs.com Championship in Reno, NV, Jones joined Mika Koivuniemi as the only two bowlers to win a title on all five of the PBA's "animal" oil patterns (Shark, Chameleon, Cheetah, Scorpion and Viper).^[6] He would also win the GEICO Classic in West Babylon, NY for his 12th PBA title.

2008–09 season

The 2008–09 PBA season was the first since 2003–04 where Jones did not earn a title, although he did cash in 20 of the 21 events he participated in.^[1]

2009–10 season

He had seven top-ten finishes in 2009–10, and won his 13th title in the 2010 Dydo Japan Cup, the final title event of the season.^[7]

2010–11 season

In an abbreviated PBA season, he had four top-ten finishes in 12 events, including a third-place finish at the U.S. Open.

2011–12 season

Jones won $45,000 in the PBA All-in Showdown at the 2011 World Series of Bowling, an optional, non-title event that required a $5,000 buy-in. As in the previous season, however, he was unable to win a PBA title.

2012–13 season

Jones won the WBT International Bowling Championship in Inazawa, Japan on January 19, 2013. With WBT titles now counted as PBA Tour titles (if won by a full-fledged PBA member), Jones was credited with his 14th PBA title. Tommy also won the season-ending 7th Kingdom International Open in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 16, 2013 for his 15th PBA title.^[8] He earned over $166,000 in 2012–13, his best season earnings since 2005–06.

2014 season

Jones made match play six times, and appeared three times in the televised finals, but did not win a tournament.

2015 season

On May 16, 2015, Tommy won his 16th PBA title (his first on U.S. soil since 2008) at the PBA Bear Open in Shawnee, Oklahoma. On this day, Jones rose from the #5 seed and defeated four PBA titleists, including PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke in the final match.^[9] It would be Jones' lone title for the season, despite making the TV finals in a career-high eight tournaments.

2016 season

On June 5, 2016, Jones earned his 17th PBA Tour title in the Downums Waste Services PBA Xtra Frame Jonesboro Open. With the win, Tommy moved into a 20th place tie with Hall of Famer Carmen Salvino on the all-time PBA titles list.^[10] Jones also earned a $10,000 bonus for accumulating the most points (89) in the seven 2016 PBA Xtra Frame events, surpassing E. J. Tackett (84 points) in the final Xtra Frame event of the season on October 30.^[11]

Additional PBA accomplishments

• Jones was ranked 30th on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years."^[12]
• Jones currently owns 17 career PBA Tour titles, ranking him in a tie with Carmen Salvino for 20th all-time. He also has 10 PBA Regional titles.^[1]
• He holds the record for shortest time span between 1st and 10th career titles (2 years, 6 months, 7 days), beating Dick Weber's mark by just four days.
• Eclipsed $1,000,000 (U.S.) in total career PBA earnings late in the 2007–08 season, with total earnings now at over $1,550,000.
• Through the end of the 2015 season, he has accumulated 32 perfect 300 games in PBA events. For three years in a row (2007–2009), Jones bowled a perfect game at the Weber Cup, repeating the feat in the 2013 Weber Cup.
• Among active players, Jones currently holds the second best win percentage in TV finals matches (40–23, .635), behind only Jason Belmonte (37–20, .649).^[13]

Career PBA Tour titles

Major titles are in boldface.

• 2004 Dydo Japan Cup (Yokohama, Japan)^[14]
• 2004 Denver Open (Lakewood, Colorado)^[15]
• 2005 Cambridge Credit Classic (West Babylon, New York)^[16]
• 2005 Banquet Open (Grand Rapids, Michigan)^[17]
• 2005 Dydo Japan Cup (Tokyo, Japan)^[14]
• 2005 Tulsa Championship (Owasso, Oklahoma)^[17]
• 2006 Bayer Atlanta Classic (Norcross, Georgia)^[18]
• 2006 63rd U.S. Open (North Brunswick, New Jersey)^[1]
• 2006 Ace Hardware Championship (Wickliffe, Ohio)^[19]
• 2007 H&R Block Tournament of Champions (Uncasville, Connecticut)
• 2008 ConstructionJobs.com Championship (Reno, Nevada)^[6]
• 2008 GEICO Classic (West Babylon, New York)^[20]
• 2010 Dydo Japan Cup (Tokyo, Japan)
• 2013 WBT International Bowling Championship (Inazawa, Japan)
• 2013 7th Kingdom International Open (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
• 2015 PBA Bear Open (Shawnee, Oklahoma)
• 2016 Downums Waste Services PBA Jonesboro Open (Jonesboro, Arkansas)

References