ATX Invite Countdown: No. 5 AJ Johnson
ATX Invite Countdown: No. 5 AJ Johnson
The fact that AJ Johnson advanced to the FloBowling ATX Invite without a win during the summer season is a testament to his consistency.
The inaugural FloBowling ATX Invite will take place Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. Eastern with the top eight players from the FloBowling PBA Summer Tour competing for a top prize of $25,000. To get you prepared for the competition, we are taking a closer look at each of the players in the field.
AJ Johnson
Hometown: Oswego, Illinois
Age: 27
ATX Seed: No. 5
First-round opponent: No. 4 Jason Sterner
How he advanced: Fifth in Summer Tour points with 6,930
Summer Tour recap
The fact that Johnson advanced to the FloBowling ATX Invite without a win during the summer season is a testament to just how consistent he was the past couple months.
Johnson bowled in every summer tour event and finished in the top 12 in seven of the nine events.
“I feel like I’ve bowled the most consistent out of anybody,” Johnson said. “It was a lot of weeks put together with not many breaks or days off between. This summer has not only been a physical grind but a mental grind as well.”
Johnson nearly won his first career PBA Tour title at the PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles in July. On the cusp of victory, Johnson and partner Erin McCarthy both threw splits for opens in the final frame to let the win slip out of their hands.
Overall, though, Johnson’s summer season was extremely positive as he competed week in and week out near the top of the pack.
In front of his hometown fans at Parkside Lanes for the Summer Swing, Johnson finished sixth at the PBA Bear Open and ninth at PBA Illinois Open.
The FloBowling ATX Invite will be broadcast live exclusively on FloBowling. The action begins with the opening round of the bracket at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 21 and the best-of-three final starting at approximately 5 p.m. Eastern.
Here’s a look at the schedule of matches with all times listed in Eastern:
Saturday, Sept. 21
Opening round (one game matches)
2 p.m. - Match 1: #1 Sean Rash vs. #8 Tommy Jones
2:30 p.m. - Match 2: #4 Jason Sterner vs. #5 AJ Johnson
3 p.m. - Match 3: #2 EJ Tackett vs. #7 Kyle Sherman
3:30 p.m. - Match 4: #3 Anthony Simonsen vs. #6 Bill O'Neill
Semifinals (one game matches)
4 p.m. - Semifinal 1: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner
4:30 p.m. - Semifinal 2: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner
Final (best-of-three match)
5 p.m. - Final: Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner