ARLINGTON, Texas – Left-hander Jakob Butturff put on a dominating performance Thursday in the opening round of the PBA Hall of Fame Classic to kick off the 2019 PBA Tour season.

Butturff, who has a unique release, averaged 258.5 for six games at the International Training and Research Center to take the top spot. He totaled 1,551 on games of 244, 279, 266, 226, 269 and 267 to lead the field by 135 pins.

“I had a really good year in 2018 and what I want to do is prove to everyone that I can keep it going,” Butturff said. “I found the lane conditions today very much like the PBA 60th Anniversary Classic last year, which I won. If I’m on a lane condition where I see early hook, that fits my game perfectly. That’s what I saw today, and I just kept it going.”

Results: PBA Hall of Fame Classic Round 1 Qualifying

This week’s event is a shorter event with only 18 games of qualifying determining the five players who will bowl for the title Sunday. With a third of qualifying complete, Butturff is in prime position to make another stepladder finals.

The limited field of 70 players will return Friday for the second round of qualifying live on FloBowling starting at 9 a.m. Central with the first of two squads. After 12 games, the top 18 bowlers will bowl six final games of qualifying Saturday morning.

Australian two-handed bowler Jason Belmonte had the highest score on the evening squad Thursday, totaling 1,416 to jump into second place with a 236 average. EJ Tackett sits in third with 1,410, Bill O’Neill is fourth at 1,383 and Tom Smallwood rounds out the top five with 1,360. Sitting on the cut line, 18^th place, is Gary Faulkner Jr. with 1,281.