The 2023 U.S. Open presented by 'Go Bowling!' qualifying round competition came to an end on early Friday morning, and the first cuts were made. The top 24 players from a starting field of 108 have advanced to the match-play stage of the competition, which starts on Friday at 4 p.m. ECT at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis.
10 European players started their qualifiers on Tuesday, and four of them made the cut and will fight at match-play stage of the U.S. Open 2023. Thomas Larsen of Denmark led the competition with one qualifying round remaining but finished 5th after the last 8 games. Jesper Svensson (Sweden) made a great upturn from 22nd position after 16 games, ending just 9 pins below T. Larsen in 6th place. Richard Teece (England) kept his positions and finished 10th, while Finn Tomas Kayhko was the last European who made the cut in the qualifiers ending in 18th place.
E.J. Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, was in first place overall after qualifying for the second consecutive year at the U.S. Open.
The three rounds of round-robin match play, which will start on Friday and be played on an oil pattern the players haven't seen at this year's U.S. Open, will now be played by the players who advanced from qualifying. The players' 48-game tournament totals, which include 30 bonus pins for each match win, will be used to determine which nine bowlers move on to the two live televised rounds after 24 games of match play.
The U.S. Open, which features a 48-game marathon on difficult playing conditions to select the finalists and winner of the desired green jacket, is frequently regarded as one of the most difficult competitions in the sport of bowling.
Defending champion of the U.S. Open 2022, Anthony Simonsen, reacted to the burdensome oil patterns on his Twitter. "8 more hours to decide which side of the lane I'm playing today," he said moments before his last 8 qualifying games.
Nevertheless, Anthony Simonsen managed to perform his best game so far, finishing 4th in qualifiers.
