Rash Surges Into U.S. Open Lead Heading Into Match Play
Rash Surges Into U.S. Open Lead Heading Into Match Play
Sean Rash surged into the lead heading into match play Monday afternoon at the U.S. Open.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Sean Rash surged into the lead heading into match play Monday afternoon at the U.S. Open.
Rash, who entered the day in third place, raced past previous leader Francois Lavoie down the stretch in the cashers round at Victory Lanes. Rash has a 32-game total of 6,846, a 213.94 average.
Rash put together a pair of big games to close out the eight-game block with 253 in Game 7 and 268 in Game 8 to take the lead.
Results: U.S. Open Cashers Round
Lavoie, who has a 32-game total of 6,842, dropped to second place with games of 178, 169 and 158 to close out the block. Lefty Jesper Svensson is third with 6,848, while Bill O’Neill is fourth with 6,827.
The players faced the fourth and final pattern of this year’s U.S. Open in Monday’s cashers round. That pattern, which is 40 feet with 30.15 mL of oil and a ratio of 1:1.6, will be what the players compete on the rest of the tournament.
“We’ve bowled on four different patterns, and I said after Day 1, the first pattern, that they were all going to play the same and they have,” Rash said. “We start to the right and then by Game 3 we are sliding in the left gutter. It is what it is. There’s so much friction here.”
With the players ability to practice on their starting lanes limited, Rash said that’s having an affect on how the lanes break down. The players get one ball of practice on each of their starting lanes. They do have a bank of pairs to warm up on before the rounds start, however.
“With not having many practice balls, guys aren’t going to stay to the right to break it down,” Rash said. “They are going to get closer to the headpin to leave something that’s makeable. So the fronts blow open, rev rates dominate and here we are lofting the gutter again.”
Match play gets underway at 5 p.m. Eastern today with the first of three eight-game blocks. The second and third blocks take place Tuesday to determine the five players who will make the stepladder finals. All three match-play rounds will be broadcast live on FloBowling.
“The scores will definitely be lower in match play because you’re not going to get as much traffic but guys are going to migrate in because that’s where they’ve gotten all their scores,” Rash said. “I’m a perfect example with a 200 rev rate throwing it over the gutter just trying to get it to roll out and hit the one in the front.”
The final spot in match play was determined by a one-game roll-off after Marshall Kent and David Simard finished tied at 6,520 after 32 games. Kent won the roll-off, 202-160, to advance.