For the second straight year, EJ Tackett earned the No. 1 seed for the U.S. Open finals. Only this time, he brought 'The Eagle' home. 17 PBA Tour title winner EJ Tackett won the final game against Kyle Troup and bacame a champion of the 2023 U.S. Open in Indianapolis. He also became the 9th Triple Crown winner in PBA Tour history.
The Live broadcasted stepladder finals started with a tremenduos noise from a full-house electric crowd at Royal Pin Woodland. You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife in the opening match of the 2023 U.S. Open presented by 'GoBolwing!'. So it was unsurprising that both Kyle Troup and Richard Teece started their game with uncertain shots in the first frames, being unable to hit strikes. Both bowlers got their confidence back in the 5th frame, when Englishman Richard Teece finally worked on a strike, Kyle Troup responded and we reached the commercial break with a single pin difference between them. The second half was slightly in favor of Kyle Troup. Richie made a mistake in the 8th frame and Troup executed with confidence to shut out with a final result of 207-192.
Kyle Troup got into No. 3 seed and defending champion Anthony Simonsen in the second match of the stepladder, whose two major PBA titles were made at Royal Pin Woodland, Indianapolis. Troup started the match with an opening hambone and took the early lead, putting pressure on defending champion's shoulders. It didn't take long until scales were even again when Troup was unable to convert nasty split just before the break. Simonsen remained clean and even took the lead, but things changed quickly in the 8th frame when the youngest man ever to win a major missed the 'pocket' and ended up with a big-four split. To his fortune, Simonsen had a chance to win in the last frame but didn't use it, meaning the U.S. Open will have a new champion.
With only one match remaining until the title game to determine the 2023 U.S. Open champion, Kyle Troup changed his urethane to reactive-resin bowling ball and stood in a fight with the last European remaining - No. 2 seed Tomas Kayhko of Finland. Both bowlers took off strong, but Troup started to miss pocket in the 3rd and 4th frames, giving the advantage to his opponent by 16 pins heading to the commercial break. Troup made a hambone through 5-8 frames after the righteous ball change, which was just enough to come back and shut out 25 y.o. Finn from the game.
The title game between fifth seed Kyle Troup and 16 PBA Tour title winner EJ Tackett was a true emotional rollercoaster. Troup started with a mistake leaving 7th pin, but Tackett made one in 2nd frame as well. Both of them responded with a series of strikes, and the result was in tie after nine frames, making it anyone's game. Toup made a strike with his first shot of the 10th frame, but missed the 'pocket' with the second, leaving a big-four. EJ Tackett took his chance and 'The Eagle' was finally his.
EJ Tacket earned his 17th PBA Tour title and $100,000 prize cheque.
The U.S. Open, which features a true 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.
