With four players who have won two titles this season, the 2018 PBA Player of the Year race is wide open as we enter the final two weeks of the season.

Three titles will be on the line at next week’s FloBowling PBA Fall Swing and the U.S. Open later this month will feature the final chance to win a PBA major this season. In order to be eligible for PBA Player of the Year voting, players must finish in either the top 10 in points or earnings.

The list of players currently eligible include Andrew Anderson, Jason Belmonte, Anthony Simonsen, Marshall Kent, Bill O’Neill, EJ Tackett, Kyle Troup, Jakob Butturff, Stuart Williams, Tom Daugherty, Dom Barrett and Matt O’Grady. That list will probably change a little bit when it’s all said and done but that’s who we will use for this evaluation.

So, of those bowlers, who has the best chance of winning the PBA Player of the Year? Let’s break it down:

Great chance to win

Andrew Anderson – The current leader on the points list, Anderson has put together a strong resume with a major title – the United States Bowling Congress Masters – and the PBA Xtra Frame Greater Jonesboro Open. At this point, he may be considered the favorite.

Jason Belmonte – Belmonte, the reigning PBA Player of the Year, has wins at the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship and the PBA Tour Finals. He also has a second-place finish at the PBA Players Championship and a fourth-place finish at the PBA Tournament of Champions. With a great showing at the Fall Swing and U.S. Open, he could win his fifth POY award.

Some work to do

EJ Tackett – With wins this season at the PBA Xtra Frame Parkside Lanes Open and the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles, Tackett currently sits in sixth place on the PBA’s points list. He will need a great performance the next two weeks along with a little help from Anderson and Belmonte if he wants to earn Player of the Year.

Jakob Butturff – The lefty has won two titles this season – the Go Bowling! PBA 60^th Anniversary Classic and the PBA Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Group Classic – but his 167th-place finish at the USBC Masters and 70th-place finish at the PBA Players Championship may be a sour point for some voters if he doesn’t win another title.

Anthony Simonsen – Simonsen has quietly put together a solid season, not finishing lower than 35^th in any event in which he has competed, while also picking up a victory at the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic. Even though he’s currently third in points, he will likely need to pick up another victory in the next two weeks to be seriously considered.

Matt O’Grady – Winning the PBA Tournament of Champions earlier this year immediately put O’Grady in the mix for Player of the Year, but the rest of his season has been relatively quiet. If he were to win the U.S. Open to end the season, would the voters deny POY to a player who won two of the season’s four majors? The same could be said for PBA Players Championship winner Tom Smallwood, although he is not currently in the Top 10 in points or earnings.

So, you’re saying there’s a chance

Dom Barrett, Bill O’Neill and Kyle Troup all have one victory this season and could move into the Player of the Year discussion but they would almost certainly have to win at least one more title to close out the season.

Stuart Williams, Tom Daugherty and Marshall Kent are all also among the Top 10 in points or earnings right now but none of the three have won a title yet this season. There’s virtually zero chance they will win the award without winning at least one, probably two, titles in the next two weeks.

Of course, maybe one player not mentioned here will win two, three or even all four (!) titles in the coming weeks to throw the Player of the Year race into complete chaos and make the decision really tough for the voters.