Kris Prather shook off a slow start to take the opening-round lead Wednesday at the 2019 PBA Lubbock Sports Open.

Prather had a seven-game total of 1,658, a 236.86 average, to take the top spot at South Plains Lanes in Lubbock, Texas. The second round of qualifying begins live on FloBowling at 8 a.m. Central time Thursday.

Bowling on the first of two squads Wednesday, Prather shot 188 and 215 out of the gates but caught fire in the final five games. He finished with 258, 234, 290, 237 and 236 to lead the field of 93 bowlers by 22 pins.

Results: PBA Lubbock Sports Open Round 1 Qualifying

AJ Chapman sits in second place with 1,636. He had a chance to take the lead heading into the final game of the night but managed just 181 in Game 7.

Nick Pate is in third place with 1,619, Dick Allen sits in fourth with 1,612 and Stu Williams rounds out the top five with 1,593.

Jakob Butturff, who has a chance to make history this week if he can earn the top seed for the stepladder finals for the fourth straight tournament, got off to a rough start, shooting just 1,450, a 207.14 average, and sits in a tie for 42^nd place.

This week’s event utilizes mixed patterns. The players bowled their first round of qualifying on the 32-foot Wolf pattern and will bowl the second round on the 42-foot Scorpion pattern. In the cashers round, match play and stepladder finals, the players will face Scorpion on the left lane and Wolf on the right lane.