Titusville's Jason Hurd rolled 22 games and still had to figure a new line in the last one to win the PBA South Region tournament Sunday at Clearwater's Countryside Lanes.
Hurd defeated John May of Iron Station, N.C., 245-196 to earn his 12th region title and $2,500. May won $1,250. Orlando's Chris Hayden was third and DeLand's Thomas Gibson was fourth, each earning $850. Margate's Steve Wilson finished fifth and won $650.
Hurd was the leader after the first eight-game qualifying block on Saturday, then won through the round of 30, best-of-five single-elimination match play. He had a 7-2 match-play mark, best in the field, and averaged 211 for the tournament. Hurd defeated five-time national winner Jason Couch of Clermont and stopped Wilson and Gibson.
"Because the lane conditions were so changed from earlier in the day, I had to dial in a whole new shot against John. He struggled even more than me, but after the first four balls, I got it figured out," Hurd said.
"The shot was there, but I just used poor judgment on my shot selection," May said.
Steve Hoskins, a 10-time national tour winner from New Port Richey, was the highest area finisher in ninth place. He lost to Shawn Evans of Satellite Beach in the round of 16. Evans lost to May despite rolling a 300 game in the best-of-three round of eight.
The field included Cocoa's Corrine Hamm, competing in her eighth region after the PBA opened events to women this season. She finished 24th.
The South Region makes two more stops in Florida, Oct. 15-17 at Langlo Bowl in Pasco County and Nov. 26-28 at Fort Walton Beach.
