PBA Show Recap: 2025 Delaware Classic

Introduction

At long last, a brand new PBA season is finally upon us. This year's tour schedule is a bit of a departure from the last few years- instead of starting with a grueling major such as the US Open or Players Championship, this season began with a regular title event: the Delaware Classic.

In its second iteration, the Delaware Classic featured an interesting assortment of competitors. At the bottom of the stepladder was AJ Johnson and Michael Davidson, two guys who look more like football linebackers than competitors on the PBA tour. Next up on the stepladder was Graham Fach, the man who became the first Canadian to win on tour when he captured the Players Championship way back in 2016, but hadn't won since. Next up was Nick Pate, who had to make his way through the pre-tournament qualifier to even make the show. And finally, there was Jakob Butturff, who went from not making a single telecast in 2024 to being the number one seed in this one.

I envisioned this telecast going a few different ways. The first was Michael Davidson climbing the ladder and winning his first title. Although it was only his second time on TV (and his first time bowling in front of a crowd on TV), I saw him absolutely dominate in qualifying and figured at least some of that moxy and ball reaction would carry over to the show. The second was AJ Johnson climing the ladder. I saw this as a little less likely, since some of his matches throughout match play were somewhat shaky, but I figured that if the right side of the lane held up, and the lefties didn't have a great ball reaction, he would have a chance. The third (and most likely in my mind) was Graham Fach winning the tournament. He had just about everything going for him- he's remarkably consistent, had a lot more recent TV experience going into this tournament than anyone on the show, and would only have to beat one other lefty to win the title.

Were my predictions accurate? Let's analyze each match and find out.

Match 1

The first match of the telecast saw Michael Davidson and AJ Johnson burst onto the scene with a very Cheetah pattern-like style of lane play. Davidson decided to play the big wheel with reactive, whereas Johnson opted for a straighter line with the pseudo-urethane Tank Rampage Pearl. Johnson had no issue hitting the pocket to start- the only thing that slowed him down were a few 9-counts. Davidson matched Johnson through the first half of the match, tripping out a few 4-9 splits along the way. It wasn't until the 8th frame that Johnson's ball reaction started to go south, as he would leave the 3-6-10, giving Davison the lead. Johnson would recover, throwing the next four strikes in a row, but gave Davidson another opening when he left a 5-count split on his fill shot. Davidson, only needing a mark to win, would leave a 10 pin on his first shot in the tenth and cover it with no problem. He would move on to match 2 to take on Graham Fach.

Match 2

The second match of the telecast saw Graham Fach make his first televised singles competition appearance since last year's World Championship. Fach came into this tournament with one tour title, the 2016 Players Championship. It was that title that made him the PBA tour's first ever Canadian champion, and for a while, it seemed like that win would propel Fach to the superstardom that many believed he was capable of.

Eight years later, that hasn't exactly been the case for Fach. He made a few shows in the time since, even winning his division in the 2022 Players Championship, but that elusive second win remained just that- elusive. With time running out on his 10-year exemption, a loss at this tournament could very well mean a future of slogging away in PTQs again, something that nobody, much less a major champion, ever wants to do.

If these nerves were affecting Fach during this match, he didn't show it. He began his first match with the front six strikes in a row, making the Cheetah pattern look stupid easy. Davidson kept pace, missing for the first time in the fifth frame, and nearly getting a massive opening when Fach almost left the 7-10 in the 8th frame. A ringing 7 in Fach's ninth frame brought the max scores even, but Davidson was unable to capitalize, leaving a split in the tenth frame and allowing Fach to win the match with a mark.

Match 3

In the third match, Graham Fach would match up with Nick Pate, a tour journeyman making his first TV finals appearance since the 2020 Indianapolis Open. Having made it out of the PTQ, the stage was set for Nick Pate to become the next person to win a PBA title after having to bowl that tournament's PTQ. The list of bowlers that have done that is short and storied- Sean Rash was the first to do it when he won the 2006 West Virginia Championship, Matt O'Grady did it in 2018 when he won the Tournament of Champions, and last year's Delaware Classic champion, David Krol, did it as well.

Early on, it looked like Pate was well on his way to add his name to that list. He started the match with the front four strikes and when he did miss, he left makeable spares. Fach, on the other hand, did not hit the pocket quite as consistently as in his previous match, but was still able to stay fairly close to Pate with count.

It was a high scoring match throughout, with the max scores at 258-249 going to the tenth. Fach would go to the wall in his tenth, striking out and forcing Pate to double. He would not, throwing the first shot in the tenth way inside, giving Graham Fach the win, and a ticket to the title match with Jakob Butturff.

Match 4

The title match saw Graham Fach match up with perhaps the most unique bowler on today's tour. Much has been said about Jakob Butturff's bowling style- his footwork, his hand position at the bottom of the swing, etc., etc., but one thing is for sure: it works. Coming into this tournament, Butturff was an eight-time winner on tour, including the 2019 USBC Masters, not to mention a handful of second-place finishes in majors over the years.

Fach did not have these credentials coming into this title match, but he did have a great ball reaction and comfort on the TV pair. Butturff, on the other hand, was coming in cold.

This disparity showed itself pretty early on, as Fach would open with the front four strikes in a row. Butturff would start with a strike, but left a soft 7 in his second frame, a brutal 10 pin in his third, and a five-count split in his fourth. Although he was able to strike a few more times in the match, it wasn't enough. Graham Fach's ball reaction was simply too good, and he cruised to a 277-200 victory.