An upstart rookie Texan fell just two pins short of upsetting a confident, 14-year pro in the dramatic, nationally televised finals of the PBA Toledo Open yesterday at Southwyck Lanes.
Steve Jaros, a bespectacled family man, won his fourth PBA title when 26-year-old Chris Johnson left a 2-4-10 split on his first ball in the 10th frame of the championship match. Johnson needed only to mark in the 10th to clinch a victory, but instead left an open frame to lose 224-222 to the long-time touring pro.
A relieved Jaros said he thought that he had lost after he rolled four spares and a strike in his final frames.
“When you re sitting down in the 10th and the guy needs a mark to shut you out, you don t feel too confident,” said Jaros, who collected $40,000. “I certainly expected him to strike in the 10th. Although in the back of my mind, if you ve never been in that position before, you don t know how you re going to handle it. It s just one of those things. He went up there and left the 2-4-10. Things change really fast.”
Most in the crowd of about 275 gasped loudly when Johnson left the split.
Johnson, who solidified his position as the leading contender for rookie of the year, said he thought he had rolled a clinching strike.
“The last shot I m not upset at all about,” the native of Garland, Texas, said. “I thought I threw it good. Off my hand I thought it was there. If I had thrown it bad, I guess I d be upset. Forty-five feet down the lane I thought it was there still. And then I thought I picked the spare. I thought it was going to hook just perfect into it.”
Instead, Jaros s score stood up as he earned an exemption to be among the 64 pros to compete on the tour next season.
Jaros, a native of Bolingbrook, Ill., made it to the match-play rounds as the final qualifier. With his 4-year-old twins and wife looking on and holding signs, Jaros first defeated Patrick Healey Jr. 209-195 in the wild-card match.
In the semifinal matches, the slick conditions on the approaches took their toll on veterans Danny Wiseman and Amleto Monacelli. Wiseman bowled just a 172 and was bounced by Johnson s 224. Jaros beat Monacelli 226-207.
“I couldn t stop sliding,” Wiseman said. “I made one good shot. It was just like ice skating. The left lane was especially bad.”
Wiseman said he could not control the direction of his shots and was worried about falling.
“They didn t use that pair all week so what happens is during the week as guys get in there, they leave rubber and they knock that film off of there,” he said. “That was one of the worst games I ve ever bowled on TV and I ve been bowling good all week.”
Johnson doubled his career earnings with $20,000 for second. Monacelli and Wiseman still walked away with $10,000 each. Healey, who was the top qualifier, earned $9,000 for his fifth-place finish.
First Published November 10, 2003, 3:34 p.m.
