BOWLING : Stayrook Opens PBA Season With Fourth Tour Victory

Jess Stayrook of Tempe, Ariz., threw nine strikes at one of bowling’s all-time 300-game shooters to win the $240,000 AC-Delco PBA tournament Saturday at Cal Bowl in Lakewood.

The left-handed Stayrook defeated Bob Learn Jr. of Erie, Pa., 247-215, in the title game to earn $45,000--his biggest paycheck in 13 years on the tour.

“What a way to start the year,” Stayrook said. “And to beat ‘the Ice Man’ is another accomplishment. Bob has a knack of locking bowling concentration in a world of his own.”

Learn, a 32-year-old right-hander, is known for going on strike streaks that have given him 48 perfect games in sanctioned play to rank second on the all-time list behind Mike Whalen of Dayton, Ohio, who has 49.

Stayrook, 35, using the left side of the lanes, started with five strikes and finished with a streak of four to win his fourth PBA title.

David Ozio of Vidor, Tex., opened the finals by defeating New Jersey’s Parker Bohn III, 200-176, and Stayrook’s brother-in-law, Dave Arnold of Gilbert, Ariz., 268-223. Learn then eliminated Ozio, 232-219, to earn the right to meet Stayrook, the No. 1 seed.

Learn received $23,000 for finishing second, Ozio got $13,000 as the third-place finisher, Arnold $10,000 for fourth and Bohn $8,000 for fifth.