PBA World Championship

The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateurs to enter.)

Prior to 2002, the tournament was called the PBA National Championship. The PBA National Championship was first contested on November 28, 1960, then called the First Annual National Championship; the winner was PBA Hall of Famer Don Carter. Tournament champions currently win the Earl Anthony Trophy, named in honor of the late PBA legend who won this title a record six times with a pair of threepeats (1973–75 and 1981–83). The World Championship has offered a $100,000 top prize in multiple seasons, and as much as $150,000 in 2020.

Background

The National Championship and World Championship have been contested over the years using a variety of formats. Currently, the PBA World Championship format is different from normal PBA Tour events. Since the 2009–10 season, the initial qualifying scores for the World Championship have come from other stand-alone tournaments at the PBA World Series of Bowling, which celebrated its 16th anniversary in 2025. Thus, the current tournament is open to any PBA member who also enters the World Series of Bowling.

For the 2009–10 season, the PBA World Championship was part of the World Series of Bowling held in Allen Park, Michigan, and was contested in a split format. The qualifying rounds of the tournament were contested August 31 – September 4, with the televised finals being broadcast live on ESPN December 13, 2009. The PBA's second World Series of Bowling in 2010 was contested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was again used as qualifying for the 2010–11 PBA World Championship. This time, the 60-game qualifying scores for the five "animal pattern" championships held at the World Series were used to determine the 8-bowler TV field for the PBA World Championship finals. The World Championship finals were televised live over three consecutive days (January 14–16, 2011), a PBA first.

Currently (as of the 2026 WSOB XVII), combined scores from the 40 games of qualifying (10 games on each of four different "animal" oil patterns) determine the top one-third of the WSOB field that move on to the PBA World Championship Advancers round. After 10 more games on the Earl Anthony 42 oil pattern, which is named after the six-time winner of this event, the top 16 move on to the match play round. These 16 players then bowl 15 games of roundrobin head-to-head match play, plus one position round match. Total pinfall from all 50 qualifying games, plus the 16 match play games (including 30 bonus pins for head-to-head match play wins), determines the nine players that advance to the televised semifinals. The semifinals is a play-in round to determine the fifth bowler who will join the top four from match play in the televised finals. The Earl Anthony 42 oil pattern is also used for match play, semifinals and finals.

World Champions

2025 event

The 2025 PBA World Championship was contested March 4–20 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada, with a live televised stepladder final on March 22. The tournament had a $505,450 prize fund. The top 50 players cashed, with the champion earning $100,000.

Second-seeded E. J. Tackett defeated top seed Jason Belmonte in the final match, 242–222, to successfully defend his 2024 PBA World Championship title, and gain a threepeat in this event. This was Tackett's 27th PBA Tour title, seventh major, and the fourth World Championship title in his career.

• Prize Pool:

1. E. J. Tackett (Bluffton, Indiana) – $100,000

2. Jason Belmonte (Orange, New South Wales, Australia) – $60,000

3. Tim Foy Jr. (Seaford, Delaware) – $40,000

4. BJ Moore (Greensburg, Pennsylvania) – $30,000

5. David Krol (Nixa, Missouri) – $25,000

Past winners

+ Due to the 2012–13 "Super Season" running from November 2012 to December 2013, there were two PBA World Championship events: one in November 2012 and one in November 2013.

External links