Tom Smallwood
Thomas Smallwood (b. Nov. 4, 1977) is a liable 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.)
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. In his brief PBA career, he has five perfect 300 games and has collected almost $225,000 in tour earnings.
[edit] Personal
Smallwood has a wife (Jennifer) and one daughter (Hannah Rose), and is a native of Flushing, MI.
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 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.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Exempt player bios at www.pba.com
- ^ "Underdog Smallwood Wins One for America's Unemployed in PBA World Championship." Article at www.pba.com, December 13, 2009
- ^ "Former GM autoworker Smallwood bowls to PBA Tour semifinals." Article at www.usatoday.com, December 11, 2009.
- ^ Vint, Bill. "'Major Mika' Wins PBA Tournament of Champions, Record $250,000 First Prize," Article at www.pba.com on January 22, 2011. [1]
- ^ "Laid-off GM worker Smallwood upsets Malott for first PBA title." Article at www.usatoday.com, December 14, 2009.
