Aussies Make the Cut at the 2025 USBC Masters
By Matt Stevens
Two of Australia’s finest tenpin bowlers, Jason Belmonte and Sam Cooley, have advanced to the next round of the 2025 USBC Masters at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, USA.
The USBC Masters, one of the most prestigious events on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour, is the third major of the 2025 season and drew an elite field of 390 competitors all chasing a place in history.
Over three intense rounds of qualifying – 15 games in total – the field was cut to the top 63 bowlers, with defending champion DeeRonn Booker automatically advancing to the next round to defend his 2024 title.
We’re proud to report that Belmonte and Cooley both finished above the cut line, securing their spots in the double-elimination match-play phase.
Belmonte, the legendary bowler from Orange, NSW, appears to be back in top form this season. After capturing the Roth/Holman Doubles Championship alongside long-time friend Bill O’Neill, and making deep runs at the PBA World Series of Bowling (including a runner-up finish at the PBA World Championship), Belmo has carried that momentum into the Masters. He finished qualifying in 10th place, averaging 216 across 15 games for a total pinfall of 3,251.
Shellharbour’s Sam Cooley also looked sharp on the lanes, finishing comfortably in 45th place with an average of 208 and a total pinfall of 3,133.
At the top of the leaderboard, Bill O’Neill enters match play as the No. 1 seed after a strong 3,331 pinfall total, just edging out three-time USBC Masters champion Anthony Simonsen, who takes the second seed.
Jason Belmonte holds the record for the most USBC Masters titles in history, having claimed the trophy four times – including an incredible three-peat from 2013 to 2015 and a fourth in 2017.
The match-play phase now begins, featuring a double-elimination bracket with two paths: the Winners Bracket and the Contenders Bracket. All players start in the winner’s bracket; one loss sends them to the contenders bracket, and a second loss ends their tournament run.
Match play begins on Friday (Australian time) and will continue through the weekend, with the stepladder finals scheduled for Monday, 31 March (Australian time).
Jason Belmonte (10) will take on Hayden Stippich (55) in the first round, while Sam Cooley will come up against Manuel Otalora (20).
To keep up with all the action and streaming options, visit bowl.com and pba.com.
Let’s go, Aussies! Best of luck to Jason and Sam in the next phase – we’re cheering you on all the way. 🇦🇺🔥
Credit to PBA.com for the images used.
