Tom Smallwood

Thomas Smallwood (born November 4, 1977) is a professional ten-pin bowler currently competing on the PBA Tour. On December 13, 2009, the right-hander won his first PBA Tour title and first major in the PBA World Championship, defeating 2008-09 PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott in the final match, 244-228.[1] (See PBA Bowling Tour: 2009-10 season for more information.) He is a member of the Brunswick and Turbo Grips pro staffs.

Smallwood, who resides in Saginaw, MI, attended the PBA Tour Trials in May, 2009, only because he had been laid off from his auto plant job in December, 2008.[2] He had been an excellent bowler in classic leagues in and around Saginaw, and supplemented his income by competing in local tournaments and a few open PBA events. After scraping together $1500 to qualify for the PBA, he finished third in the Tour Trials, easily making the Top 8 who gained PBA exemptions for the 2009-10 season. "I always felt I could compete out there [on the Tour], but I was also content with working and staying with my family," Smallwood said in an interview with USA Today just prior to the PBA World Championship finals.[3]

With the major tournament win at the PBA World Championship, Smallwood earned a PBA Tour exemption through the 2011-12 season. In his first full season on the PBA Tour, he made 15 cuts and eight match-play rounds in 18 events, while appearing in three televised finals.

On January 22, 2011, Smallwood, who had qualified as the #1 seed, finished second to Mika Koivuniemi in the PBA Tournament of Champions, taking home $100,000.[4] He made four TV finals overall in 2010-11, but did not win a title.

Smallwood won his second PBA title on November 3, 2013, at the World Series of Bowling PBA Scorpion Championship. To get to the final match on this day, he survived the longest sudden-death roll-off in PBA history after tying Josh Blanchard 232-232 in the semifinal. Smallwood threw five strikes in the roll-off, while Blanchard threw four strikes before leaving a 10-pin on his fifth shot. Smallwood then defeated Marshall Kent in the final match.[5]

Smallwood made a bid to win his second PBA World Championship in December, 2016, charging from the #4 seed to the finals, but he fell to #1 seed E. J. Tackett in the title match.[6] Smallwood was voted by his peers to receive the PBA Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award for the 2016 season[7]

Through the 2016 season, Smallwood has earned over $425,000 on the PBA Tour, and has rolled eight perfect 300 games in PBA competition. He also has three PBA Regional titles.

Personal

Smallwood has a wife (Jennifer) and one daughter (Hannah Rose), and is a native of Flushing, Michigan.

Ironically, he was offered a chance to go back to work at General Motors, when a representative from that company's job bank called him just days before the 2009 World Championship finals. Smallwood had to decline, telling the rep that he was a full-time bowler now and would in fact be on ESPN television that Sunday.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Exempt player bios at www.pba.com
  2. ↑ "Underdog Smallwood Wins One for America's Unemployed in PBA World Championship." Article at www.pba.com, December 13, 2009
  3. ↑ "Former GM autoworker Smallwood bowls to PBA Tour semifinals." Article at www.usatoday.com, December 11, 2009.
  4. ↑ Vint, Bill. "'Major Mika' Wins PBA Tournament of Champions, Record $250,000 First Prize," Article at www.pba.com on January 22, 2011.
  5. ↑ Tom Smallwood Ends TV Drought, Wins PBA Scorpion Championship for Second Tour Title Vint, Bill at pba.com on 22 December 2013.
  6. ↑ Vint, Bill (December 11, 2015). "Indiana’s E.J. Tackett Wins PBA World Championship for First Major, Fourth 2016 Title". Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  7. ↑ Vint, Bill (February 5, 2016). "Tackett Wins GEICO Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year Award; Canada’s Lavoie Named Rookie of the Year". Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Laid-off GM worker Smallwood upsets Malott for first PBA title." Article at www.usatoday.com, December 14, 2009.
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