Making a bid to become the first player in Professional Bowlers Association history to win Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year crowns in the same year, Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. (pictured left) averaged 255.7 Sunday to lead first round qualifying in the PBA Senior Jackson Open at Airport Lanes.

Williams bowled a 2,046 eight-game pinfall total with games of 279, 268, 245, 228, 248, 299, 214 and 265 to hold a 91-pin lead over last week's Senior Pepsi Open winner Tom Baker (right) in second with 1,955.

Going into the final event of the Senior Tour season, Williams is second in Senior Player of the Year points behind fellow Hall of Famer Wayne Webb by 12 points, but Webb struggled in the first round, finishing 40th with a 1,658 pinfall.

Williams, who earned the PBA Tour Player of the Year crown at the conclusion of the season in April, can win Senior Player of the Year if he wins in Jackson and Webb finishes fourth or lower.

"Having to win and needing Wayne tleft) to finish worse than third is a tall order—it's not something that happens every week," said the 50-year-old Williams, the PBA Tour's all-time wins leader with 47 titles, "but it's a real possibility and I'm going to do everything I can and let everything else take care of itself.

"I had a good shot to the pocket for the whole block today and was able to take advantage of that," Williams added. "I got off to a good start and was able to keep the momentum going."

In his first year on the Senior Tour, Williams won in his Senior Tour debut at the Senior Miller High Life Classic in May.

Also with an outside shot at Senior Player of the Year is Hall of Famer Mark Williams (right, no relation to Walter Ray) who sat in fifth place after the first round with 1,806 pins.

The 116-player field will bowl another eight-game qualifying round on Monday after which the field will be cut to the top 32 players who will advance to match play Tuesday morning. The Round of 8 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Eastern followed by semifinal and championship matches.

Final day coverage of the Senior Jackson Open will be available on PBA.com's Xtra Frame video service. For subscription information visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

 

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Walter Ray Williams Jr. eyes another milestone at PBA Senior Jackson Open

 

PBA Senior Jackson Open - First Round (after 8 games)

1, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 2,046
2, Tom Baker, King, N.C., 1,955
3, Tom Carter, Rockford, Ill., 1,910
4, Don Sylvia, Reno, Nev., 1,823
5, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 1,806
6, Dale Csuhta, Wadsworth, Ohio, 1,797
7, Peter Knopp, Germany, 1,792
8, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 1,786
9, Steve Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 1,782
10, Patric Donaghue, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., 1,780
11, Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, 1,779
12, (TIE) Patrick King, Yankton, S.D
and Keith Sharp, Orlando, Fla., 1,775
14, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 1,767
15, Roy Buckley, New Albany, Ohio, 1,746
16, Charlie Tapp, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1,745
17, Gary Hiday, Indianapolis, 1,741
18, Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 1,738
19, Bill Henson, Westerville, Ohio, 1,722
20, Kerry Painter, Henderson, Nev., 1,720
21, Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 1,719
22, Fred McClain, Allen Park, Mich., 1,718
23, Robert Teeters, Lapel, Ind., 1,713
24, Larry Popp, Marion, Ohio, 1,712
25, Michael Lucente, Warren, Mich., 1,703
26, Bob Chamberlain, The Villages, Fla., 1,699
27, John Shreve Sr., Elyria, Ohio, 1,698
28, Pete Kaczmarczyk, Warren, Mich., 1,693
29, Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1,688
30, Doug Spicer, Canton, Mich., 1,687
31, Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio, 1,685
32, Dick Selgo, Archbold, Ohio, 1,680
33, (TIE) Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla.,
Larry Graybeal, Elizabethton, Tenn
and Dave Patchen, Oregon, Ohio, 1,677
36, Bob Faragon, Schenectady, N.Y., 1,675
37, Ron Garr, Ridgedale, Mo., 1,674
38, Roger Kossert, Lithia, Fla., 1,672
39, Ron Profitt, Brookville, Ohio, 1,666
40, (TIE) Bennie Holman, Decatur, Ill.,
and Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 1,658
42, Timothy Kauble, Marion, Ohio, 1,656
43, (TIE) Marc Lineberry, Camanche, Iowa,
and Dale Eagle, Tavares, Fla., 1,655
45, Christopher Keane, New City, N.Y., 1,651
46, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 1,646
47, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Township, Mich., 1,644
48, Tom Howison, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,643
49, (TIE) Dave Schultz, Jackson, Wis
and John Chapman, Canada, 1,639
51, (TIE) George Lord, Lakeland, Fla
and Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla., 1,638
53, Emilio Mora Sr., Defiance, Ohio, 1,633
54, Ray Johnson, Battle Creek, Mich., 1,631
55, Steve Easterday, Strasburg, Ohio, 1,630
56, Bobby Johnson, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1,617
57, Leo Scantamburlo, Riverview, Mich., 1,616
58, (TIE) Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D
and Larry Walker, Garden City, Mich., 1,614
60, Michael Truitt, Orland Park, Ill., 1,612
61, Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 1,611
62, Mike Mineman, Belleville, Ill., 1,606
63, Patsy DellaPenna, Palm Harbor, Fla., 1,605
64, (TIE) Dave Sill, Rockledge, Fla.,
Norm Ginsberg, Kissimmee, Fla
and Ed Marzka, Orlando, Fla., 1,601
67, Michael Chrzanowski, Shepherd, Mich., 1,598
68, Kim Kirkpatrick, Rockford, Ill., 1,594
69, (TIE) Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif.,
Ken Waters, Kingsport, Tenn. and
Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 1,593
72, (TIE) Leonard Cianciolo, Warren, Mich
and Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind., 1,592
74, Mitchell Jabczenski, Novi, Mich., 1,586
75, Douglas Weese, Carson City, Mich., 1,583
76, Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 1,575
77, Harley Trumbull, New Boston, Mich., 1,574
78, Dave Bernhardt, Shelby Twp., Mich., 1,572
79, Bob Kelly, Dayton, Ohio, 1,571
80, Paul Kwiecien, Lansing, Mich., 1,570
81, Jerry Walls, Kennewick, Wash., 1,569
82, Alan Brown, Fort Wayne, Ind., 1,565
83, Dannie Hettinger, Circleville, Ohio, 1,562
84, Andrew Ippolito, Forest Hills, N.Y., 1,559
85, John Bennett, Clarkston, Mich., 1,558
86, Gary Johnson, Romulus, Mich., 1,557
87, (TIE) Daniel Miner, East Moline, Ill
and Harv Pallas, Stevensville, Mich., 1,552
89, Derek Smith, Hicksville, Ohio, 1,550
90, Dave Osim, Roscommon, Mich, 1,546
91, Bob Edwards, Lima, Ohio, 1,544
92, Jim Gordin, Modesto, Calif., 1,541
93, Richard Hunt, Valparaiso, Ind., 1,532
94, (TIE) Donald Breihan, Columbia, S.C
and Dave Flemming, Fairborn, Ohio, 1,531
96, Bob Brady, Santa Monica, Calif., 1,525
97, Phillip Moros, Lombard, Ill., 1,523
98, Steve Fulton, Lansing, Mich., 1,518
99, Bob Andersen, Forest City, N.C., 1,509
100, (TIE) Darryl Traber, Waterford, Wis
and Bill Idzior, Crown Point, Ind., 1,485
102, Sam Perrotta, Lincoln Park, N.J., 1,483
103, James Souder, Greeneville, Tenn., 1,476
104, Vic Portalatin, Jackson, Mich., 1,468
105, Richard Felten, Rockville, Md., 1,449
106, Ray Randall, Dearborn, Mich., 1,446
107, Edward Buco, Berlin, Md., 1,437
108, Nick Tjotjos, Westlake, Ohio, 1,434
109, Hubert Harrison, Middletown, Ind., 1,431
110, Fred Baldwin, Sturgis, Mich., 1,422
111, Dan Clausse, Reno, Nev., 1,419
112, John Milletics, Sandusky, Mich., 1,393
113, Gene Vincent, Decatur, Ill., 1,389
114, Allen Meskan, Addison, Ill., 1,375
115, Bill McCorkle, Westerville, Ohio, 1,339
116, Dave Rossi, Morgantown, W.Va., 1,305