In February, Prep Rally brought you the story of Kamron Doyle, the Tennessee middle schooler who became the youngest player in history to finish in the money round at a Professional Bowling Association event. In the months since, Doyle has continued to bowl at occasional pro events, trying to add to his ever-growing college scholarship fund.
On Sunday, Doyle's attempt to fund his own studies took a big step forward when he finished in the final places, coming in third at the PBA South Scorpion Open. That final position gave him the second slot on the list of youngest bowlers to finish in the money at a PBA Tour event, and made him the youngest to ever finish in the top three at a PBA Open.
As reported by the Nashville Tennessean, Doyle finished the match play rounds at the Scorpion Open with a 5-3 record, boosted by his tournament average of 221.2 pins.
Where he hit his stride, however, was in the tournament's later rounds, stunning onlookers en route to the Scorpion Open semifinals, where he finally met his match against legendary bowler Walter Ray Williams Jr. The veteran PBA star went on to win the Scorpion Open, topping another PBA legend, Dick Allen.
Still, even Williams' marks put Doyle's stunning success in perspective; Williams finished his first 13 games with an average of 221.46 pins. That mark is less than 0.3 of a pin better than averaged by Doyle across the breadth of the event.
Clearly, Doyle has the talent to hang with the best talent on the PBA Tour. Given his age, it's probably time for his fellow PBA competitors to get used to him now, before he's a regular member on the full-fledged tour as opposed to an occasional invitee.
That time is coming, too, and when it does all bets are off as to just how successful the Tennessee freshman may be.
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