Original subtitles

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[forklift beeping]

[electric motors whirring]

[rubber squeaks]

[electric motors whirring]

[forklift beeping]

[light upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- This is one of my secondary homes, basically.

Get some side money, some pocket money.

[chuckles]

[upbeat western rock music]

I think bowling's kind of a unique sport

where you don't need to be the strongest guy in the room.

We're not exactly the most athletic.

♪ ♪

So I just started doing this.

I think today's going to be

like the sixth day I've done this.

Six-day active streak. Whoo-hoo.

So I was having uh, back problems last season,

so kind of a sign to, like, start taking care of myself.

They're just, like, small, random stretches.

When I saw some of these names,

I'm like, what the fuck is this?

My shoulder blades have been

really appreciative of this one.

♪ ♪

Now we're almost to the toes. That's kind of nice.

[upbeat hip-hop music]

♪ ♪

narrator: The 2025 U.S. Open in Indianapolis

already saw last year's champion get eliminated.

Now, the remaining bowlers who did make the cut

will compete to make the show.

- The show. - The show.

- TV show. - TV show.

- The TV show.

narrator: Or the telecast

featuring the last nine bowlers standing

battling it out over two days on TV

chasing that big payday, an oversized trophy,

and of course,

the second-most coveted green jacket in all of sports.

♪ ♪

[wind whistling softly]

- From Las Vegas, Nevada, Anthony Simonsen.

[applause]

- So I grew up in Mesquite, Texas,

just outside of Dallas.

[upbeat western rock music]

It was rough at times. We had very little money.

And throughout the years, there were times where

my mom would drop me off when she worked

right around the corner from the bowling alley.

For me, it had kinda turned into a daycare.

And I moved up as an adult bowler at the age of 16.

- 2016 Masters Champion!

- I broke the record to become the youngest person

to ever win a PBA major title.

But throughout my nine or ten years now,

there's always a challenge

and I knew it was going to be a long, grueling week.

So on these events where they do two telecasts,

my main goal is make the top four.

Fuck.

Ah, you fucking dumb fuck.

[sighs]

How do we get a strike over here?

- Similar but different to golf in a way,

we have caddies.

They're ball reps.

narrator: Now to be clear,

a ball rep doesn't hold your balls

like Happy Gilmore's caddie holds Happy's clubs.

- Hey, give me a club.

I'll get it.

narrator: But a ball rep does help a bowler

read the way the oil's transitioning on the lane,

and can recommend which ball might work best accordingly.

- I was tired of struggling.

I had thrown a shot, and I had either gotten

a 4 or 5 or a split through the face.

That was real fucking useful.

I was, you know, asking my ball rep for a little bit help,

and we couldn't really seem to get anywhere.

So you have any ideas?

Or are you just going to let me

fucking get five every fucking time, I guess?

- I mean, I barely fucking-- you know what?

Fuck you.

Don't help me the rest of the week.

[clears throat]

[pins crash]

All right, I'm going to smack Rob in the face, OK?

- OK.

- Like, I barely fucking touched the holes.

So I said, are you going to give me some fucking ideas,

or are you going to keep letting me get fives?

Well, if you're going to throw like that,

you're going to get fives.

I'm going to fucking bust his ass one fucking day.

I-I don't like that fucking guy, OK?

I don't like him at all. - OK.

- It's fucking bullshit.

He's going to get fucking punched in the face.

That's fucking-- that's bullshit.

- All right. - Can't fucking do that.

- No.

[suspenseful music]

- I'm going to do what I want, OK?

- I'm going to do what I want. Thanks.

I actually am.

- Then go write me a fine and I'll sign it.

- Please do. Thank you.

Some of the things I've gotten fined for, equipment damage.

God damn it, man.

Unbecoming of a professional,

which can mean a lot of different things.

Hey, all you haters.

Y'all didn't think this would happen again, did you?

- No comment.

- No comment.

The most is probably profanity.

Yeah, fucking reset, you fucking ignorant fuck.

Any fucking idea would be nice.

Eh, go fuck yourself.

Bowled three fucking games, nobody said anything.

Not one fucking thought.

Sometimes it's aggressive.

How fucking hard is it to just not fucking do that?

Fucking impossible, I think.

Sometimes it's not aggressive.

Can we speed these motherfuckers up?

Please?

Throughout the years,

I don't know if anybody's been fined more than me.

[tranquil classical music]

One for you and one for you.

How about that, fucking piece of shit?

Fucking panels bounce, fucking pin's nowhere near on spot.

My only comment is no comment.

They don't want to hear what I have to say.

- Anthony Simonsen, he can say some pretty outlandish stuff.

- Suck my fucking left nut.

- If he's bowling bad, put the earplugs in

for the kids. [chuckles]

- Fiery.

He's not afraid to say what he's thinking.

- Yeah, just fucking make up your mind.

Like they've never fucking set up a bowling show before.

- But it's exciting to watch. [laughs]

- Fuck!

- Uh-oh.

- Oh, never mind.

- Well, let's not walk him down.

I didn't know it was that bad.

And he usually beats the world. - And he wins. [laughs]

[laughter]

[tense rock music]

- And then from then, we were able to get comfortable

and then bowl some better scores to end the block.

What if I throw it like that, dickface?

Is that better?

[machine beeping]

All right. I think I'm done.

We'll find out

if we come back in 30 minutes and it's not done.

There as you can-- the last couple days,

you can tell when bowling has started,

uh, 'cause, you know, 8:00, 9:00 the parking lot is packed.

And then come back just after lunch when you're done,

and there's nobody here, so.

[door opens] - Oh! Hey, guys.

Oh. [laughs]

Oh, that scared the shit out of me.

Oh, my goodness.

Where did they come from?

How you guys doing? Just coming to get some boxers.

Let me put some pants on.

I've known Simo for a couple years.

He's really played that big brother role.

And, um, when my boy, Keven Williams,

didn't make it to the top 24,

Simo was like, hey, do you want a room?

And I was like, duh, yeah.

- There are normally three roommates this week.

- This is more than enough room.

Look, I can stretch out and everything.

Come on, now.

- The staff here at the hotel has taken great care of us.

- Yeah, I mean, like,

this is pretty good, this is pretty good.

It's better than sleeping on the couch, right?

[upbeat western rock music]

After you, Big Dino.

[tools whirring]

- We'll go 15 pounds.

All right. Stay right here.

We'll get a--

- See? This is why we love ball reps.

They just--they love us so much, sometimes.

- I don't know about all that.

- Dino--last year, Dino clowned me for not knowing my PAP.

I didn't know it.

And as a professional bowler, that is...

[whispers] Embarrassing.

[laughing] So he always clowned me for it.

But now, we're out here drilling stuff together.

Look how time flies. [laughs]

- What is your axis?

- Bingo.

- My man. - [laughs]

- 5 1/2 and 2 3/8 down.

narrator: PAP, axis points.

- So we're doing a 4-inch pin. - Yeah.

narrator: You might be wondering,

do I really need to know all this?

[suspenseful orchestral music]

Well, the language of bowling can be just as confusing

as dialogue you hear in a medical show.

- Start dopamine at 10 and titrate to a systolic of 90.

- Yes, sir. - Get a 12-lead EKG.

- Right away, Doc.

- Overhooks, it goes Brooklyn.

- And he went split-split.

- Into a turkey.

[turkey gobbles] - 2-10 split.

- Four- or five-bagger.

- Or vice-versa, for a lefty.

- Big four. Big split.

- That split is, like, the show-off split.

- To aim Brooklyn.

- You want to hit the 1-3 pocket.

- Three-, five-, and six-baggers.

- A 7-10 split.

- Two Brooklyns in the same game.

[pins clattering]

narrator: So sometimes, these guys might say some things

you're not gonna understand.

And that's OK.

♪ ♪

- When I first talked to Cam,

I said, how the hell do you not know your axis?

He was like, you don't know your fucking axis point?

- I don't know about-- - You're a pro bowler.

[imitating indistinctly]

I was like, damn, bro. Come on, Dino.

- What'd I tell you? - And now we cool.

- What'd I tell you? You think this a game?

- It's not no game.

Hey, I understand it's not no game anymore.

[soft upbeat music]

♪ ♪

They help us out with anything we need when it comes to balls,

layouts, drillings, lane play, what they're seeing,

they go and scout other pairs, they go and help us out.

He's going to give me a massage when we're done. Absolutely.

- Ain't no happy ending to that, I promise you.

- [laughs] Ah, well, it ain't about you right now.

[laughs] - You right.

- It's about me. [laughs] No, I'm kidding.

[dramatic rock music]

♪ ♪

- Yo.

Fuck off. Fuck off.

- So we had a couple people with me throughout the day.

Obviously, my mom, my ball reps,

and then we had my boy, Keven Williams.

My goal every tournament is to win,

but I mean, I knew who I was going against.

[peaceful music]

I was like, oh, my goodness.

Like, this is--it's, like, I didn't expect this to happen.

- You as well.

Belmo, obviously, he's the GOAT.

He's my GOAT.

[energetic rock music]

- Jason can do anything with a bowling ball.

- Unbelievable.

- He may be the greatest we've ever seen.

- He's got 15 majors, and nobody else is close to that.

- Like this Tiger Woods on the PBA Tour.

- Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

- For the title.

Got it!

- Yes! Yes!

♪ ♪

- Yeah!

- He's the greatest!

He's! The! Greatest!

[power chord blasts]

[indistinct chatter]

[pins clatter]

- Thanks.

- Although it was cool, like, I wasn't thinking, like,

holy shit, I'm bowling Belmo.

Thinking, like, finna beat his head in, you know?

He's a good dude, great dude,

but he's the guy I'm trying to beat.

narrator: Winning a match in the qualifying rounds

is about more than just bragging rights.

It also adds 30 bonus pins onto your total score.

[bowlers exclaiming] - Good shot.

- All right, gang. - Come on.

- I got to hear that all week?

Every frame? Like a cheerleader?

Like a college coach in the back?

- Yeah.

- [claps twice] All right, kid. All right.

Oh, I got to hear it? - [laughs]

- All right. Let's go, kid.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

Come on.

Yeah, I bowled a little below average.

And at the U.S. Open, average is never good enough.

And so I knew I needed a pretty solid session

to make it into the top nine.

- The new one's down there. - Yeah.

Cameron, you can throw a shot, mate.

I've got to go get another ball from down--

- Take your time, bro. - No, no, no, no, no.

I got to go get another ball. - Oh, another ball.

- So you can finish your game on.

- OK.

narrator: Bowling, like all sports, has rules,

one of which is the protocol

that says you don't leave a lane midgame.

- Doing his shit.

narrator: But rules are meant to be bent.

And for some bowlers, it's just--

- Strategery.

- He's trying to prove that he's still relevant

and he's trying to show you something.

Go get his ass.

- Like, there's no defense in bowling,

so the defense has to be your mind game.

- Go.

[polite cheers and applause] - Good shot.

- Great bowling, man.

Great bowling, baby. - Hey, you too.

- Yes, sir. - Good luck for the rest.

- You as well.

I ended up winning the match, I guess.

But--[chuckles] That was cool.

- Yeah, I don't know how you're going to survive all day

with those two guys behind you going like little babies.

[baby talking] Like, come on, Cameron.

- [laughs] - Come on.

- Hey, guys. Just a reminder.

You need to bowl when it's your turn and not wait, OK?

- Kirk, had to go get a ball from the paddock.

So I could either let him wait

for me to run down there or let him finish the frame.

- Is that the reason? Is that the reason?

- Well, of course. That's why I'm here.

- Well, I wasn't here to see that.

All I saw was the result and a complaint, so.

- There was a complaint? - Sure.

- Cool.

- Before you went to the locker room, yeah.

- I checked off what?

- You checked off with your opponent

before you ran to the locker room, right, and came back?

- Yeah. - To use the ball.

- I let him bowl. - Got you.

- Can we take the conversation to a different pair than mine?

Please? - We're good.

- Thank you.

- Cameron, I'm going to go to the paddock and get a drink.

Do you want one? - No, thank you.

- All right. - Appreciate it.

- Doing his shit.

[imitating] I'm going to go get a drink.

- I think it's all bullshit.

Like, if you're going to have the balls

to put in a complaint, then you can't make it anonymously.

I think that's bullshit.

But I'm glad it's squared away with the tournament director

and I'm glad Cameron knows that

I was trying to help him, not harm him.

And whoever that anonymous fan is...

yeah.

He can suck it. [chuckles]

[upbeat soft rock music]

- And we welcome you to Woodland Bowl.

That parking lot's gonna be a lot thinner

in eight more games because 15 bowlers will be leaving us.

We'll be down to nine by the time you get to your lunch.

♪ ♪

Ooh.

Come on. We're not dead. Come on.

See?

[groans]

I had one crazy game.

I made those moves, figured them out.

Unfortunately for me,

everybody else also figured 'em out.

[sighs]

Oh, my God, I lost 279 to 280 one game.

That didn't really help the morale.

Oh, my God. I fucking hate bowling sometimes.

Come on, Cameron. Finish your game.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

5-0 the last two for a loss and another freaking loss.

Good job.

I'm letting people who throw it slow

tell me to go throw it slow.

I can throw it harder than everybody on Earth.

Everybody back there, they said,

no, you got to move right and just throw it slow.

[soft upbeat music]

What the fuck do I have to do to win a game?

I'm burning this building to the ground.

I'm thinking about it.

When I was younger,

I had my dad talking in my ear every shot.

So I just turned into my father.

That's really it.

Stop listening to these fucking people sometimes.

Your gut is better than everybody else's gut.

Remember that. Remember that.

Fucking do it.

[indistinct chatter]

- Mm.

- Happens to me a lot, Mom.

This is why I don't win tournaments, actually,

in Chicago all the time.

So it's nothing new.

♪ ♪

[upbeat music]

[camera shutter clicking]

- Thank you so much.

- Oh, boys. It's now or never, isn't it?

Now or never.

I'd had a couple of pretty average sessions before,

so I knew I needed a pretty solid session in there

to make it.

♪ ♪

Just so soft with it. Why?

Many a time, I've been--

well, I think most people would consider

dead in the tournament,

and I've held the trophy at the end of it.

[pins clatter] Fuck off, man.

Fuck.

God, Jason.

Are we doing this again?

So if it's mathematically possible,

I'm always going to have that internal belief

I'm going to make it.

I'm thinking to myself,

I'm going to give it everything I got every time.

So in the moment when things aren't going great,

my head is still thinking,

we're gonna win the tournament.

And I did get on a little bit of a run.

I got on a couple of wins.

And it got me to the point where

it came down to the last shot of the tournament.

- Fuck!

- Uh-oh. - Oh, what happened?

- Something caught Belmo. - What happened?

- Something caught Belmo,

and it's going to cost him the show.

- [laughs]

Thank you, Graham.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

- Because you've never done it yourself, mate.

Fuckin' douche.

- Yeah, now--

- Oh, that was Simo. - Wow.

- Things are getting kind of tense down here right now.

narrator: It's hard to know if Graham's outburst

was an intentional tactic to throw off Belmo,

but with both bowlers so close to making the show,

it might have just been strategery.

- Belmo kind of barked off at Graham

and I didn't really like it just because

Graham's normally one of the nicest guys out there on tour.

I don't know if there's many more people

that are nicer than him.

Take your time, bro.

I'm the guy, I guess,

that would be the least one to get involved

because I'm normally the guy causing problems.

But yeah, it was just kind of one of those things

that struck me wrong and I told him to fuck off.

- A 75 for Belmo.

- [sighs]

- And that, I don't think, will do it.

- So what we can officially say

is Graham Fach is going to be on the show.

Belmo is not going to be on the show.

[quirky tense music]

- People. People annoy me. I've had enough of--of it all.

I'm going to live on my farm by myself.

I'm not talking to anyone for, like, 23 years.

♪ ♪

- One, two, three, and four

are off for the rest of the day.

- And Simo will be the top seed tonight,

which is what he did not want to do.

His goal was to bowl tomorrow.

narrator: At the U.S. Open,

the top four bowlers in the show automatically move on

to the second day of the telecast.

[bell rings]

But the fifth spot is left open to grab

in an additional show...

[somber music]

- Damn it.

narrator: Giving the other five in the field

no time to rest.

- Bowling on an extra TV show is nice.

Only having to bowl one TV show is significantly better.

The adrenaline is hard to come down from.

And then you've got to get through that adrenaline rush

to wake back up the next day and do it all over again,

which can definitely be a little taxing,

especially with back problems.

This is so dumb.

There shouldn't be a fucking second show.

It's a waste of fucking money.

Oh, you guys are so good.

We're on TV 30 fucking times, but you bowl 14 events.

Fucking got the blind leading the blind

is what we got around here.

- Thanks, bro.

- Fifth.

- Like a fucking loser.

- Fucking have to get myself loose for one game.

That's awesome. - [laughs]

- Nothing to be happy about.

- Our number five seed has 16 tour titles, five majors.

He's the 2022 U.S. Open champ.

From Las Vegas, Anthony Simonsen.

[suspenseful rock music]

For tomorrow's telecast, there are a number of--

- Body hurts.

I definitely would have liked to have

the next however many hours off.

Getting myself loose for the TV show

is going to be quite difficult.

♪ ♪

I got a little heat pad on

and, uh, we're just trying to throw as many shots as we can

between now and when we go on and see how loose we can get.

♪ ♪

- No interview.

- Uh, I'm feeling OK.

It's just-- it's way cozier to lay down

than it is to sit down.

After I sit down, I get really stiff pretty quickly.

So I figured I would just lay down and be more comfortable

because then I could sit in one spot longer.

- Hell, no! I'll answer that. - [laughs]

- Why would I have sympathy?

- The same way I ain't got none for him.

- When I'm out here, I'm only worried about me.

You know, Simo's only worried about him.

We can sit here and be friends and stuff,

but where he's at in the standings, I don't care.

I'm worried about me and that's it.

And he's the same way.

And if you're not that way,

honestly, it's kind of a disservice to yourself

if you're worried about what place someone else is in.

- I would agree.

[cheers and applause]

- FS1 welcomes you inside Royal Pin Woodland

for the first major of the young PBA season.

The headliner today, though,

without a doubt, is Anthony Simonsen,

and he's looking for

his fourth straight top five finish here

at one of the most demanding tournaments on the tour.

No stage is too big for him.

And if you go back to the year 2022, at the age of 25,

he became the youngest to win the U.S. Open.

[pensive music]

- So I was 15 when I dropped out of school.

Having to support myself at 15, 16,

it's something that obviously is not normal for most people.

My dad, he was laid off right around 2009.

My mom and him, they were separated.

♪ ♪

I had, like, $7 to my name.

I knew it was a way to make money.

I was bowling to survive.

♪ ♪

And then my mom passed away in 2015.

♪ ♪

It was almost just kind of like, all right,

you got somebody to bowl for now.

- Come on. - Come on.

- 2016, I guess, would really be considered a breakout year.

- Anthony Simonsen is going to make history here today.

As rough as it gets at home, leaving school,

turning to bowling for friends, for competition.

What a moment.

[peaceful ambient music]

♪ ♪

I mean truthfully,

without bowling, I'd probably be homeless.

It's been a long time coming from that.

[sighs]

Definitely, I mean, I just-- forever grateful.

I mean because without bowling,

I mean, I don't have anything, really.

♪ ♪

- I know it's been a challenging week for you

and you just missed tomorrow's show by just a few pins.

But you've worked hard to get here.

How were you able to do that, even with the back pain?

- You know, I've been doing a lot of stretching.

Starting and stopping hurts a little bit,

but other than that, we're ready to go.

- All right. Good luck to you. - Thanks.

- So Simonsen now chasing his 17th PBA Tour title

and his sixth major.

The winner of this one moves on

to tomorrow's championship round

live on Fox at 4:00 Eastern.

[energetic orchestral music]

- I would say the frustration probably did carry over.

I'm kind of irritated

that I already have to bowl this show in the first place.

Because it's like, well, if we were doing a traditional show,

I'd only have to bowl one show.

But sometimes,

getting a little worked up can be a good thing.

Sometimes you got to get in that moment

where you almost essentially stop thinking about bowling

and just kind of let the body do its natural thing.

♪ ♪

[energetic upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Simonsen moves on.

22-pin win for Simonsen.

- Ooh, my favorite place to be, Woodland Bowl on Sunday.

See you tomorrow.

[bright tone]