The day had lots of Highlights, but the biggest wasn't discovered until after the Tournament.  Earl Kleist joined the Tour in 2002 and his 2nd Place finish Saturday pushed his Career Earnings to $25,997.00.  He's the 3rd Tour Member to reach that enormous Milestone, behind Tong Nguyen and Samson Ibale.  A tie for 35th Place caused an extra (36th) bowler to be added to the Cash List, bringing the 1-Day Tournament's Total Paid Out to an impressive $12,302.00.  The scores at Hooters were right on target, with five bowlers cracking 800 and a Cut-Line of 735.  This week the highest scores came early in the day, while last week they came in the later squads.  Skip Shear and Chim Saechao bowling on the same pair in the second squad, each ended strings of 5 Taps with real strikes, each settling for a very profitable $375.00 from the Jackpot Consolation.  As usual, the Cash List was very diversified with a wide range of handicaps from +75 to -6.

 

Chim Saechao became our 4th straight 1st time Champion.  Chim is now officially on a "Hot Streak" with his two 'best-ever' finishes coming in just the last 3 Tournaments.  Since joining the Tour in 2008, he's had a nice assortment of Cashes along the way, but nothing like making it to the Championship Match two weeks ago (2nd Place) and following it up with a Tour Title this weekend.  It didn't come easy... Chim struggled in the 12:00 squad, but made a GREAT comeback in the 2:00 squad, starting out the first game with the 5-Taps that earned him an extra $375.00 to go with the HUGE $3,330.00 1st Place check.  When asked what he'd do with his recent windfall, he was REALLY excited to share his plans for taking his wife Laura to Hawaii for their Anniversary.  They had originally planned a Hawaii Wedding in 2008, that had to be changed to Mt. Vernon instead, so this trip is extra meaningful for them.  He may even bowl with the Hawaii 9-Tap Tour, while he's there.  Chim had a large group of friends and family bowling with him or cheering, so he asked us to thank John, Josh, Dex, Sou, Nikkifresh, wife Laura and daughter Cailyn for their love and support.  Chim's secret weapon was his Storm Virtual Energy, drilled by Ron Ishii at Imperial Lanes.  When not working at Todd Shipyards, he also enjoys Snowboarding and Break Dancing.  CONGRATS Chim on win #1.

 

The LARGE 2nd Place check of $1,442.00 almost boosted Earl Kleist (6-time Champion) past $26,000.00 in earnings.  The extra $150.00 he earned from the Scratch Pot would have pushed him over that mark too, but that doesn't get counted in his Tour Earnings.  Newcomer Skip Shear Jr. finished with two BIG games to take 3rd Place and a sweet $573.00, which is a pretty nice start toward his first $25,000.00.