A pair of Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famers and Senior Player of the Year contenders named Williams held the top two positions after first round qualifying in the PBA Senior Pepsi Open Sunday at Spare Time Lanes.

Mark Williams (pictured left), who won the Senior U.S. Open earlier this season, had a 1,831 eight-game pinfall (228.8 average) with games of 185, 228, 220, 230, 215, 217, 278 and 258 to hold a 25-pin lead over fellow Hall of Famer and Senior Tour rookie Walter Ray Williams Jr. (right) of Ocala, Fla., in second with 1,806.

Williams Jr., the PBA Tour's all-time win leader with 47 titles, earned a record seventh PBA Player of the Year crown at the conclusion of the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season in April.

"I started the round playing outside and straight down the lane but it only took me about four frames to change that," said Mark Williams, who owns three Senior Tour titles and seven Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour titles including two Tournament of Champions crowns.

"I had to move inside between the third and fourth arrow to hit the break point where I could get to the pocket. That turned out to be an advantage for me later in the block because there weren't many guys who were playing that far inside."

Rounding out the top five places after the first round are Patrick Donaghue, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., 1,765; Henry Gonzalez (pictured left), Colorado Springs, Colo, 1,753, and Tom Baker, King, N.C. and Bob Brady, Santa Monica, Calif., tied with 1,734.

Williams and Williams Jr. are still in the 2010 Senior Player of the Year hunt with only the Senior Jackson (Mich.) Open remaining after the Senior Pepsi Open. Leading Senior Player of the Year points is another Hall of Famer, Wayne Webb (right) of Columbus, Ohio, who finished Sunday's first round in 14th with 1,670.

The 109-player field returns Monday for another eight-game qualifying round to determine the top 32 players who advance to match play on Tuesday. Tuesday's Round of 8 will begin at 6 p.m. followed by the semifinal and championship matches. Final day coverage of the Senior Pepsi Open will be available on PBA.com's Xtra Frame video service.

 

PBA Senior Pepsi Open - Round One (after 8 games)

1, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,831
2, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 1,806
3, Patric Donaghue, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., 1,765
4, Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,753
5, (TIE) Tom Baker, King, N.C. and
Bob Brady, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,734
7, Patrick King, Yankton, S.D., 1,721
8, Michael Tryniski, Fulton, N.Y., 1,710
9, Dale Csuhta, Wadsworth, Ohio, 1,699
10, (TIE) Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa and
Bob Faragon, Schenectady, N.Y., 1,686
12, Ron Profitt, Brookville, Ohio, 1,674
13, John Forst, Salt Lake City, 1,671
14, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,670
15, Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla., 1,668
16, Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,658
17, Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, 1,655
18, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Township, Mich., 1,647
19, Darryl Bower, Middletown, Pa., 1,636
20, (TIE) Larry Popp, Marion, Ohio and
John Chapman, Canada, 1,626
22, Dannie Hettinger, Circleville, Ohio, 1,624
23, Kerry Painter, Henderson, Nev., 1,613
24, (TIE) Steve Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y. and
Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,607
26, Bob Knipple, Long Beach, Calif., 1,606
27, Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,605
28, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,604
29, Charlie Tomey, Spartanburg, S.C., 1,603
30, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,601
31, Keith Sharp, Orlando, Fla., 1,598
32, George Lord, Lakeland, Fla., 1,593
33, Steve Bergan, O'Fallon, Ill., 1,587
34, Michael Truitt, Orland Park, Ill., 1,586
35, (TIE) Dave Sill, Rockledge, Fla.,
Brendan Bierch, Grafton, Mass. and
Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1,585
38, Randy Rau, Belleville, Ill., 1,583
39, (TIE) Gary Morgan, Marietta, Ga. and
Warren Blankenship, Ardmore, Okla., 1,582
41, Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 1,580
42, (TIE) Roy Buckley, New Albany, Ohio
and Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,579
44, Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 1,572
45, Gene Vincent, Decatur, Ill., 1,570
46, Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 1,568
47, (TIE) James Souder, Greeneville, Tenn
and Daniel Miner, East Moline, Ill., 1,564
49, Harv Pallas, Stevensville, Mich., 1,563
50, (TIE) Randy Peterson, Carrington, N.D
and Chuck Schuette, Bettendorf, Iowa, 1,560
52, Billy Block, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 1,558
53, John Deloney, Troy, Ill., 1,556
54, David Axon, Bellevue, Neb., 1,554
55, Mike Mineman, Belleville, Ill., 1,550
56, Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,549
57, (TIE) Peter Knopp, Germany
and Bob Chamberlain, The Villages, Fla., 1,546
59, (TIE) Bennie Holman, Decatur, Ill
Chris Fedden, Albany, N.Y. and
Ray Johnson, Battle Creek, Mich., 1,543
62, Dave Patchen, Oregon, Ohio, 1,540
63, Gary Hiday, Indianapolis, 1,539
64, Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,537
65, (TIE) Dave Flemming, Fairborn, Ohio
and Ed Marzka, Orlando, Fla., 1,528
67, Richard Hunt, Valparaiso, Ind., 1,525
68, Tom Howison, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,520
69, Jim Gordin, Modesto, Calif., 1,516
70, Bob Andersen, Forest City, N.C., 1,513
71, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,512
72, Bobby Johnson, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,510
73, Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,509
74, (TIE) Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio,
Daniel Nicklin, Aviston, Ill. and
Timothy Kauble, Marion, Ohio, 1,508
77, Ron Garr, Ridgedale, Mo., 1,501
78, Kim Kirkpatrick, Rockford, Ill., 1,500
79, Jimmy Johnson, Bellevue, Neb., 1,496
80, Larry Graybeal, Elizabethton, Tenn., 1,495
81, (TIE) Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla
and Mark Zamora, Bellevue, Neb., 1,492
83, Shannon Starnes, Fort Worth, Texas, 1,485
84, John Shreve Sr., Elyria, Ohio, 1,477
85, Darryl Traber, Waterford, Wis., 1,475
86, Ken Waters, Kingsport, Tenn., 1,467
87, Paul Gerard, Cincinnati, 1,465
88, Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,463
89, Barry Witmer, St. Charles, Mo., 1,462
90, Andrew Smith, Colonie, N.Y., 1,461
91, Bill Spigner, Vernon Hills, Ill., 1,451
92, (TIE) Donald Breihan, Columbia, S.C
and Bill Idzior, Crown Point, Ind., 1,450
94, Don Sylvia, Reno, Nev., 1,447
95, Robert Teeters, Lapel, Ind., 1,443
96, Douglas Weese, Carson City, Mich., 1,442
97, Gary Reh, Nesbit, Miss., 1,438
98, Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., 1,434
99, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 1,433
100, Dan Clausse, Reno, Nev., 1,427
101, Mike Schmid, St. Paul, Minn., 1,426
102, Norm Ginsberg, Kissimmee, Fla., 1,406
103, Peter Brainard, Tampa, Fla., 1,387
104, Rick Hood, Stafford, Va., 1,383
105, Dan Kistner, Gresham, Ore., 1,371
106, Hubert Harrison, Middletown, Ind., 1,369
107, Patsy DellaPenna, Palm Harbor, Fla., 1,319
108, Fred Baldwin, Sturgis, Mich., 1,274
109, Allen Meskan, Addison, Ill., 1,267