by Jerry Schneider

With the inside track in the PBA50 Player of the Year race on the tour for players 50 and older, PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida, averaged 229.3 to lead qualifying Tuesday in the PBA50 Treasure Island Resort & Casino Open presented by Hammer at Island Xtreme Bowl.

Duke, who has won two titles this season including the PBA Senior U.S. Open and has already earned PBA50 Rookie of the Year honors, finished qualifying with a 3,670 pinfall total for 16 games to hold a 25-pin lead over two-time PBA50 Tour winner Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha, Wisconsin, in second with 3,645. Duke had games of 210, 277, 201, 248, 215, 258, 230 and 247 in Tuesday’s second round.

“That’s the reason we’re here,” said the 37-time PBA Tour winner about his quest for PBA50 Player of the Year. “There were some great players battling for it all season and it’s what we all want.”

The two other players in contention for PBA50 Player of the Year – Hall of Famers Pete Weber and Tom Baker – also advanced to match play finishing qualifying in eighth and ninth, respectively, but Weber and Duke will receive a one-round bye in match play as a result of finishing in the top eight.

“It’s really a tournament inside of a tournament,” Duke added. “With the race coming down to the last tournament of the year, it makes it fun. I’ll have to be at my best because I know they’ll be prepared.”

If Duke can win PBA50 Player of the Year, he would join Baker as the only players to earn Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Baker accomplished the feat in 2005.

Duke leads the PBA50 Player of the Year race with 56 points, holding an eight-point lead over Weber in second with 48 points. Baker is in third with 44 points. In the Player of the Year competition, 16 points are awarded to the tournament winner, the runner-up gets eight points, third-place is worth four points and the fourth-place finisher earns two points.

In the final tournament of the 2014 season, the field has been cut to the top 24 players for Wednesday’s match play which will culminate with the championship rounds at 5 p.m. CT.

The top eight players in competition points (not player of the year points) will also earn an entry into World Series of Bowling VI in Las Vegas Oct. 24-Nov. 2 and a special PBA50 qualifier preceding the World Series which will determine the two players who will face off in the WSOB Challenge telecast on ESPN.

The final day of the Treasure Island Resort & Casino Open can be seen live on pba.com’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame. Click on the Xtra Frame logo on the pba.com homepage for subscription information.