What many consider to be the best week in bowling is nearing the end, as the five finalists are set to make a run at the Go Bowling U.S. Open title. It's the second major title of the season, and - although back-to-back-to-back Player of the Year EJ Tackett did not earn the opportunity to repeat as champion - there are some familiar names remaining.
After a grueling 56 games across four different challenging oil patterns in five days, the top five have earned their chance to make a run at the coveted green jacket that goes to the champion. 2022 U.S. Open Champion Anthony Simonsen is the top seed, while 2021 Champion Chris Via is the third seed. Last year's runner-up Andrew Anderson is the fifth seed. Patrick Dombrowski (second seed) and Tim Foy Jr. (fourth seed) are looking to achieve their first PBA Tour national title after making deep runs in tournaments last season.
As I did last season, I'll analyze every win, spread, total and futures bet available on the BetRivers Sportsbook app and identify my favorite bets for the stepladder finals all season long. So far I'm 4-2 on article picks, including a +200 winner last week.
2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open Matchups
Andrew Anderson (-106) over Tim Foy Jr.
We're 2-0 picking the underdog in the opening match of the PBA Tour stepladder finals this season, and we'll go back to the well again. Anderson was the top seed at the U.S. Open last season but lost to eventual EJ Tackett in the championship. While Foy is still searching for his first PBA Tour title, Anderson is coming off a two-title season in which he finished second on the Tour Points list.
But it's not just the experience or the more favorable odds that I'm interested in. Anderson also had the higher average through match play and finished with the second-best record of all the bowlers (14-8-2), while Foy actually finished with a losing record (11-12-1).
Andrew Anderson vs. Tim Foy Jr. over 450.5 (-117)
More often than not, I'm going to take the under in the first match of a stepladder, but I think we could see at least one massive score right out of the gate. Both Anderson and Foy averaged over 227 during match play on this oil pattern. On the fresh oil, they were even better. If you look at the first two games of each block of match play, both bowlers averaged over 238.
The biggest risk is that one player pulls away and uses his last shots to experiment with a ball change in the tenth instead of shooting for the best possible score. But I'm going to bank on it being a close match with plenty of strikes from both bowlers.
All odds via BetRivers Sportsbook as of March 8th 1:00 am ET
2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open Winner Best Bet
Chris Via (+650)
If you're willing to make a riskier pick for a shot at a bigger reward, I think Chris Via is the pick today. The 2021 U.S. Open Champion led all players in match play with a 233.2 average with a strong 14-10 record. He was also the only bowler to score two perfect games this week.
Defeating three bowlers to take a major title will be no easy task, but we've already seen it earlier this season when rookie Brandon Bonta won four matches to claim the PBA Players Championship.
While top seed Anthony Simonsen certainly deserves to be the betting favorite, his -139 odds are a bit too rich for my liking. We saw EJ Tackett come in with the same odds two weeks ago only to fall to Bonta. The top seed last week, Justin Knowles, wasn't as big of a favorite, but he also went down, making top seeds 0-2 this season. Prepare to add Simonsen to the list, which would make this his third career U.S. Open runner-up finish. Simonsen has averaged just 204.7 in his three U.S. Open Championship matches.
For more picks be sure to follow @RotowireBowling and @TheSpatula300 on X.
2026 Go Bowling U.S. Open TV Schedule
All times listed are local (Eastern Time)
Sunday, March 8th
Go Bowling U.S. Open Finals (LIVE) on The CW: 4 p.m.
