The PBA50 Tour kicks off the homestretch of the 2018 season on Wednesday at the PBA50 River City Extreme Open presented by Ebonite with FloBowling covering the action live from Monticello, Minnesota.

Watch the 2018 PBA50 River City Extreme Open presented by Ebonite LIVE on FloBowling!

The tournament begins the final five weeks of the season throughout the Midwest with additional tour stops in Indiana and Michigan to close things out.

Here’s what to look for at the River City Extreme Open:

Could John Burkett break through this week?

With the smallest field of the PBA50 season so far with 69 bowlers registered to bowl as of Thursday afternoon, this could be a week to watch for a new winner.

Prominent names like Walter Ray Williams Jr., Pete Weber and Parker Bohn III are not among those on the roster. However, big names like Norm Duke, Brian Voss, Ron Mohr, Michael Haugen Jr. and others will be competing.

So, with a smaller field, could this be the week that former MLB pitcher John Burkett breaks through to win his first career PBA title? Don’t count him out.

Burkett has only bowled three events this season on the PBA50 Tour but has done respectable. He finished 16th in the PBA50 Lucas Magazine Classic and 19th in the PBA50 National Championship.

He’s one to keep an eye on.

Player of the Year race becoming more defined

With only five events, one of which is a major, left on the schedule, the number of players in the hunt for PBA50 Player of the Year has been narrowed considerably.

Haugen, who won the Suncoast Senior U.S. Open and was the 2017 PBA50 Rookie of the Year, is in prime position to take the crown. He holds a 2,400-point lead over Williams, while PBA60 bowler Mohr is in third place.

With Williams not scheduled to compete this week, Haugen has a chance to add on even more to his lead and start to lock up the PBA50 Player of the Year honors.

Meanwhile, Mohr has virtually locked up his third consecutive PBA60 Player of the Year award.

The field will battle the Don Carter pattern

For the first time, bowlers on the PBA50 Tour will face the PBA Don Carter pattern in a national tour stop. The pattern is 39 feet in length with a pattern ratio of 2.66 to 1, but it won’t be completely unfamiliar to some of the field.

Earlier this year at the PBA/PBA50 Doubles/Don Vay Memorial Central Classic presented by Columbia 300, the same Don Carter pattern was used.

With the exception of Tom Baker, who averaged 233.88 for eight games of qualifying, scores for PBA50 bowlers were relatively modest. Jeff Zaffino and Matt White won the tournament defeating Michael Llaneza and Zeke Bayt, 2-1, in the championship match.

What the schedule looks like

The PBA50 River City Extreme Open is spread out over three days, beginning Wednesday and concluding Friday. Here’s the schedule of events (all times Central):

Wednesday, July 18

10 a.m. – First round of qualifying for Squad A (eight games)

3:30 p.m. – First round of qualifying for Squad B (eight games)

Thursday, July 19

10 a.m. – Second round of qualifying for Squad B (eight games)

3:30 p.m. – Second round of qualifying for Squad A (eight games)

Friday, July 20

8:30 a.m. – Cashers qualifying (five games)

Noon – Match play Round 1

3:15 p.m. – Match play Round 2

7 p.m. – Stepladder finals (top five)