1991 BPAA U.S. Open

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$225,000 BPAA U.S. OPEN
Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Apr 7-13, 1991
Pete Weber Captures 2nd BPAA U.S. Open

Pete Weber began his march toward completing a second "Triple Crown" with his third victory of 1991 in the $225,000 BPAA U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl. Weber, Florissant, Mo., won four games, including a near-perfect 289-184 championship game decision against leading qualifier Mark Thayer to earn the $40,000 top prize.

Ironically, Weber never planned to be a part of the championship round. In fact, he had checked out of his hotel on Wednesday, anticipating he would fall short of the projected cut to the top 60 - he qualified 58th. His next fateful turn occurred when he grabbed the 24th and final berth for match play, thus equaling a record shared by just nine other players (including himself) in PBA history to advance to the title from 24th place.

Weber opened the championship match with a spare and then unleashed 10 consecutive strikes, book-ending that with a 10-pin leave for his 289. Thayer, Lafayette, Ind., was the crowd's overwhelming favorite, but was frustrated for the second time this year as runner-up (he also fell as the top-seeded player to Brian Voss in the ARC Pinole Open in January), but expressed no disappointment in his $22,000 payday.

In the first game of the ABC Sports finals, Weber stopped Dave Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 227-215. He then defeated left-handers John Mazza, Mount Clemens, Mich., 204-179, and Richard Wolfe, Arlington, Va., 236-202.

Of the 240-man field, 144 entries came from PBA's point list and 96 BPAA players earned their berths through league qualifiers. Norm Duke and Jon Juneau collected $500 as the leading pro qualifier and high BPAA qualifier, respectively, after 32 games.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

Pos. Name, City/State Total Amount

1 Pete Weber, Florissant, Mo. 956 (4 games) $40,000
2 Mark Thayer, Lafayette, Ind. 184 (1 game) 22,000
3 Richard Wolfe, Arlington, Va. 202 (1 game) 12,000
4 John Mazza, Mt. Clemens, Mich. 179 (1 game) 8,000
5 Dave Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y. 215 (1 game) 6,500

PLAYOFF RESULTS-Weber defeated Ferraro, 227-215; Weber defeated Mazza, 204-179; Weber defeated Wolfe, 236-202; and in the championship game, Weber defeated Thayer, 289-184.