JUPITER, Fla. – If Francois Lavoie were underestimated or underrated before, that conversation should be over now.

The unassuming Canadian with the lowest rev rate on the show won his third major title as he defeated Anthony Simonsen, 233-187, Sunday to win the 2021 Kia PBA Tournament of Champions at Bowlero Jupiter.

Lavoie faced a murderer’s row of major champions, climbing the ladder from the fifth seed to win the $100,000 payday and make himself eligible based on titles for the PBA Hall of Fame.

Now a five-time PBA Tour champion, three of Lavoie’s wins have come in bowling’s most prestigious events. He previously won the U.S. Open twice.

His win in the title match against Simonsen was his largest margin of victory on the show as he took advantage of a few key breaks to pull away early.

Lavoie tripped the four pin into the nine pin for a strike in the second frame and tripped the four pin again for a strike in the seventh frame. In all, Lavoie struck on six of his first seven attempts, which turned out to be more than enough to pull away.

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After watching Jason Belmonte struggle and not even break 200 while hooking the lane in the semifinal match, Simonsen attempted to throw urethane hard and straight early in the title bout.

The result was disastrous as he left a ringing 10 pin in the first frame, a seven pin in the second, struck in the third and then left a pocket 8-10 split in the fourth.

After that, Simonsen switched to reactive and tossed three strikes. But in the eighth frame he yanked the ball through the face, leaving the 3-4-6-7-9-10 split that all but ended his hopes of winning.

In the semifinal, Lavoie was able to advance with a 220-194 win over three-time TOC champion Belmonte.

Lavoie looked like he was going to be in trouble early, especially in the sixth frame when he left the 1-2-4-6-10 washout for an open frame. However, he was able to rebound by striking out to take the win.

Belmonte left a light eight pin on a shot he clearly thought was good enough to strike in the ninth frame. He then left the 3-10 split when he missed inside in the 10^th fame.

Lavoie just needed a mark with count for the win and popped a strike.

Lavoie continued his climb up the ladder by defeating Jesper Svensson, 236-201, in the second match of the show.

Lavoie looked a bit shaky early as he started the match by leaving and missing the 1-2-6-10 washout. However, he hit his stride down the stretch as he struck on eight of his final nine shots, including three in the 10^th frame to guarantee no worse than a tie.

Svensson needed three strikes in the final frame to tie the match but on his first shot it went wide left and a washout ended his day.

The opening match of the stepladder finals can be described as nothing less of a disaster for Sean Rash as he fell to Francois Lavoie 225-209.

Rash went high or Brooklyn on eight of his first nine shots in the match and despite that, still led at the commercial break by a dozen pins.

Lavoie was able to strike in the sixth and seventh frames to flip the match and by the time the final frame came around, he only needed eight pins to win. A pocket 10 pin got the job done.

The PBA Tour resumes starting March 7 as the 2021 World Series of Bowling gets underway live on FloBowling with qualifying at the PBA Cheetah Championship.