The PBA Tournament of Champions is one of the five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is an invitational event and the only PBA Tour major that does not have any open field. All participants must meet qualifications to be invited.
History
The inaugural event, held by the PBA in 1962, featured all 25 PBA Tour title-holders to date, and was won by PBA Hall of Famer Joe Joseph, who had qualified for the tournament only four events prior. In 1965, the tournament featured all champions since the 1962 event, before officially becoming an annual event in 1966 (at that time featuring the most recent 48 tour champions).
From 1965 to 1993, Firestone Tire sponsored the Tournament of Champions. Since 1994, the Tournament of Champions has had a variety of sponsors, including General Tire, Brunswick, Dexter, H&R Block, Barbasol, Fire Lake Casino & Resort, and most recently Kia.
From 1965 until 1994, the tournament was contested at Riviera Lanes (now AMF Riviera Lanes) in Fairlawn, Ohio near the long-time Firestone World Headquarters in Akron, Ohio. From 2002 to 2007, the Tournament of Champions was contested in an arena setting at Mohegan Sun Arena, in Uncasville, Connecticut."PBA turns attention to 'Roll to Riches' event," article at www.detroitnews.com, April 4, 2007 (paragraph 4). The event was moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2007–08 season, and was contested there through the 2011–12 season. The tournament returned to Riviera Lanes again in 2018.
The TOC is the only PBA major that is an "invitational" event. Prior to 2007–08, a bowler qualified for the Tournament of Champions by being one of the 32 most recent title winners on the regular PBA Tour. The list was expanded in 2008 to include some past winners of the TOC itself, even if they were no longer in the Top 32 most recent PBA winners. The 2009–10 TOC saw its first-ever female competitor, as a spot in the 2010 tournament was given to Kelly Kulick, winner of the inaugural PBA Women's World Championship in 2009."Kulick Wins PBA Women's World Championship, Sullins Takes Senior Title." Article at www.pba.com, October 25, 2009. Kulick made sports history on January 24, 2010 as she defeated Mika Koivuniemi and Chris Barnes to become the first woman to win a title against men on the PBA Tour."Kelly Kulick makes sports history as first woman to win a PBA Tour title." Article at www.pba.com on January 24, 2010.
In the 2011 and 2012 Tournament of Champions, the tournament allowed PBA Regional Tour winners for the first time, even if they had no titles on the PBA Tour, as long as they were PBA members at the time of their Regional title. These players participated in the initial "Champions" field qualifying to gain a spot in the "Elite" field. After 20 games of qualifying, a limited number of Champions field players earned entry into the Elite Field, which consisted of 54 bowlers total (a combination of past PBA Tour champions, top players in Champions field qualifying, plus the previous year's TOC champion). All Elite field players cashed a minimum of $2,500. After 16 more games in the Cashers' Round, the Top 24 (based on 36 total games) made the round-robin match play. The Top 4 match play qualifiers then made the live televised finals. Payouts for the TV finals were $250,000 for first, $100,000 for second, $50,000 for third and $40,000 for fourth. (See also: PBA Bowling Tour: 2010–11 season.) This format was retained for the 2011–12 season, albeit with reduced prize money.
For the 2018 season, the TOC format changed again. With a maximum starting field of 80, up to 70 spots are automatically given to entrants with a National PBA Tour title. If the number of entrants tops 70, the list is cut to the most recent title winners, although past winners of the TOC itself retain their automatic entry regardless of when the win occurred. Winners of a PBA Regional, PBA50 Tour, PBA50 Regional or PBA Women's Series title must bowl in an 8-game Pre Tournament Qualifier (PTQ) to earn one of the remaining spots in the opening field. A minimum of 10 spots are filled from the PTQ, but additional spots are made available if the number of automatic entrants is fewer than 70. In 2018, Matt O'Grady became the first player out of the PTQ (with no national PBA Tour titles) to win the Tournament of Champions.
Notable editions
In a notable opening match at the 1967 Tournament of Champions finals, Jack Biondolillo rolled the first-ever nationally televised 300 game."PBA turns attention to 'Roll to Riches' event," article at www.detroitnews.com, April 4, 2007 (paragraph 5). Biondolillo would only tally a 188 score in his next match (a victory), before being eliminated in his third match with a 172 score.Archived article on 1967 PBA Tournament of Champions at www.pba.com Biondolillo's feat was not matched until 2015, when Sean Rash rolled the TOC's second televised perfect game in the second match of the stepladder finals. The tournament has also seen a pair of televised 299 games, by Don Johnson (1970) and Mika Koivuniemi (2011). The 2011 event also featured the lowest-ever game bowled in a nationally televised PBA event as well as the largest pin differential in a PBA match, when Koivuniemi defeated Tom Daugherty in the semifinals, 299–100.
The TOC is the only PBA major that all-time titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. has never won.
The 2010–11 Tournament of Champions took place January 16–22, 2011, and featured a $1 million purse and $250,000 first prize, making it the richest PBA tournament ever.Schneider, Jerry. "Williams Record Seventh PBA Player of the Year Honor 'Unimaginable.'" Article at www.pba.com on April 5, 2010. The tournament had an all-new format that included a "Champions Field" and an "Elite Field." The Champions Field (maximum of 180 bowlers) included any past PBA champions with four or fewer titles, plus titlists on the PBA Regional Tour, PBA Women's Series tour, PBA Senior Tour and PBA Senior Regional Tour who were PBA members at the time of the titles. The Top 90 finishers after 14 qualifying games advanced to bowl against the Elite Field. The Elite Field included all 2010–11 exempt PBA players, any PBA Hall of Famer, any player listed in 2008 as one of the "50 Greatest PBA Players of the Last 50 Years," any PBA player with five or more PBA Tour titles or at least one PBA major title, plus the winners of the 2010 USBC Senior Masters, 2010 PBA Senior U.S. Open, 2010 Regional Players Invitational and 2010 Regional Players Championship. All entrants had to be full-fledged PBA members as of October 1, 2010.Vint, Bill, "PBA Unveils Plans for 2011 Tournament of Champions." Article at www.pba.com on August 13, 2010.
Tournament Winners
2026 Event The 2026 PBA Tournament of Champions was held April 22–26 at Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn, Ohio, with a pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) on April 21. The starting field of 72 players included 60 past PBA Tour champions and 12 PBA Regional Tour champions who were added out of the PTQ. The total prize fund was $400,000, with the top 32 players cashing and $100,000 going to the winner. A five-player stepladder format was used for the finals. Second-seeded Alex Horton, one of the 12 Regional champions to come out of the PTQ, defeated top seed Zach Wilkins (who had qualified for the main field just the week before with his first national PBA Tour title), 224–176, to earn his first PBA Tour title and first major championship.
Prize Pool: 1. Alex Horton (Douglassville, Pennsylvania) – $100,000 2. Zach Wilkins (Barrie, Ontario, Canada) – $50,000 3. Andrew Anderson (Holly, Michigan) – $30,000 4. Jason Belmonte (Orange, New South Wales, Australia) – $25,000 5. Brandon Bonta (Wichita, Kansas) – $20,000
Past winners Year Winner Runner-up Championship match score 1962 Joe Joseph Billy Golembiewski 480–416 1965 Billy Hardwick Dick Weber 484–468 1966 Wayne Zahn Dick Weber (2) 203–170 1967 Jim Stefanich Don Johnson 227–227 (48–36 roll-off) 1968 Dave Davis Don Johnson (2) 213–205 1969 Jim Godman Jim Stefanich 266–228 1970 Don Johnson Dick Ritger 299–268 1971 Johnny Petraglia Don Johnson (3) 246–169 1972 Mike Durbin Timmy Harahan 258–187 1973 Jim Godman (2) Barry Asher 224–200 1974 Earl Anthony Johnny Petraglia 216–213 1975 Dave Davis (2) Barry Asher (2) 201–195 1976 Marshall Holman Billy Hardwick 203–198 1977 Mike Berlin Mike Durbin 221–205 1978 Earl Anthony (2) Teata Semiz 237–192 1979 George Pappas Dick Ritger (2) 224–195 1980 Wayne Webb Gary Dickinson 219–194 1981 Steve Cook Pete Couture 287–183 1982 Mike Durbin (2) Steve Cook 233–203 1983 Joe Berardi Henry Gonzalez 186–179 1984 Mike Durbin (3) Mike Aulby 246–163 1985 Mark Williams Bob Handley 191–140 1986 Marshall Holman (2) Mark Baker 233–211 1987 Pete Weber Jim Murtishaw 222–190 1988 Mark Williams (2) Tony Westlake 237–214 1989 Del Ballard Jr. Walter Ray Williams Jr. 254–218 1990 Dave Ferraro Tony Westlake (2) 226–203 1991 David Ozio Amleto Monacelli 236–203 1992 Marc McDowell Don Genalo 223–193 1993 George Branham III Parker Bohn III 227–214 1994 Norm Duke Eric Forkel 217–194 1995 Mike Aulby Bob Spaulding 237–232 1996 Dave D'Entremont Dave Arnold 215–202 1997 John Gant Mike Aulby (2) 208–187 1998 Bryan Goebel Steve Hoskins 245–235 1999 Jason Couch Chris Barnes 197–193 2000 Jason Couch (2) Ryan Shafer 198–166 2001 Tournament not held in 2001 2002 Jason Couch (3) Ryan Shafer (2) 266–224 2003 Patrick Healey, Jr Randy Pedersen 222–188 2004 Tournament not held in 2004 2005 Steve Jaros Norm Duke 248–242 2006 Chris Barnes Steve Jaros 234–227 2007 Tommy Jones Tony Reyes 257–222 2008 Michael Haugen Jr. Chris Barnes (2) 215–214 2009 Patrick Allen Rhino Page 267–263 2010 Kelly Kulick Chris Barnes (3) 265–195 2011 Mika Koivuniemi Tom Smallwood 269–207 2012 Sean Rash Ryan Ciminelli 239–205 2013 Pete Weber (2) Jason Belmonte 224–179 2014 Jason Belmonte Wes Malott 219–218 2015 Jason Belmonte (2) Rhino Page (2) 232–214 2016 Jesper Svensson Mitch Beasley 226–177 2017 E. J. Tackett Tommy Jones 208–203 2018 Matt O'Grady Jesper Svensson 207–193 2019 Jason Belmonte (3) E. J. Tackett 225–196 2020 Kristopher Prather Bill O'Neill 280–205 2021 François Lavoie Anthony Simonsen 233–187 2022 Dominic Barrett Kristopher Prather 210–189 2023 Jason Belmonte (4) E. J. Tackett (2) 246–179 2024 Marshall Kent Anthony Simonsen (2) 205–201 2025 Jesper Svensson (2) Jakob Butturff 221–197 2026 Alex HortonHughes, Nolan (April 26, 2026). Alex Horton Wins 2026 PBA Tournament of Champions. PBA. Zach Wilkins 224–176
Jason Thomas' "Top 10 Moments in T of C History"
In 2010, PBA.com writer Jason Thomas listed his Top 10 moments in the 48-year history of the Tournament of Champions.Thomas, Jason. "Top 10 Moments in T of C History." Article at www.pba.com on August 16, 2010.
#10 - Marshall Holman's Million-Dollar Win. Hall of Famer Marshall Holman became the third player in PBA history to top the $1 million mark in career earnings by winning the 1986 event.
#9 - George Branham III Wins Last Firestone. In 1993, George Branham III became the first (and only until Alex Horton in 2026) African American winner in this tournament, as well as the last to win the tournament while it was sponsored by Firestone.
#8 - Weber Becomes Youngest to 10 Titles. With his win in the 1987 T of C, 24-year-old Pete Weber became the youngest PBA player ever to reach the 10-title plateau.
#7 - Earl Gets Title #30. Hall of Fame left-hander Earl Anthony became the first PBA player to reach 30 career titles with his win in the 1978 event. The legendary Dick Weber, who was in the ABC broadcast booth with Chris Schenkel because analyst Nelson Burton Jr. had made the TV finals, proclaimed Anthony the "undisputed King of Bowling" after the victory.
#6 - Bomb Scare. In 1991, the tournament was delayed 40 minutes due to a bomb threat, which turned out to be a hoax. David Ozio eventually won the title on his way to 1991 Player of the Year honors.