TOKYO – Less than a month removed from his win at the USBC Masters, Jakob Butturff earned top qualifier honors Saturday at the 2019 DHC PBA Japan Invitational.

Butturff had a 12-game qualifying total of 2,793, a 232.75 average, to lead the field of the best bowlers from the American and Japanese professional bowling tours at Tokyo Port Bowl.

Butturff started the day with a 297 game, leaving the 2-4-7 on his final shot, and continued that momentum throughout two six-game qualifying blocks.

Results: DHC PBA Japan Invitational Qualifying Round 2

Japanese bowler Tomoyuki Sasaki qualified second for match play with 2,700, while Chris Barnes is third with 2,682.

The top 16 out of the 48-player field advanced from qualifying and into Sunday’s round robin match play, which begins at 8:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday in the United States).

After 28 total games, the top five players will bowl for the title in the stepladder finals. All rounds are being broadcast live on FloBowling.

In total, nine PBA Tour players advanced to match play, while seven players from Japan made the cut.

Jason Belmonte held onto the final qualifying spot with a 2,519 total, a 209.92 average, while Kyle Troup was the first player out with 2,496, missing the cut by 23 pins.

Other PBA players who failed to advance were Marshall Kent, Sean Rash, Stuart Williams and Anthony Simonsen.