William O'Neill (born October 21, 1981) is a right-handed professional ten-pin bowler who competes on the

PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...

in North America. A resident of

Langhorne, Pennsylvania Langhorne Borough is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,622 at the time of the 2010 census. The mailing address "Langhorne" is used for Langhorne Borough, but it is also used broadly to describe the majority of surro ...

, his nickname on tour is "The Real Deal". O'Neill has won 13 PBA Tour titles, including two major championships at the 2009–10 U.S. Open and the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

PBA Players Championship The PBA Players Championship is one of five major tournaments on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateu ...

. O'Neill was the first person to be a two time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

after winning the WTBA singles titles (gold medals) in 2010 and 2013. Bill is a pro staff member for

Hammer Bowling Hammer Bowling is a company involved in the manufacture and sale of bowling balls and bowling-related accessories. Faball Enterprises was formed in 1978 by Johnny Wonders and Earl Widman. In 1981, they created the second urethane ball in the market ...

, Dexter shoes and Vise Grips.

Amateur career

O'Neill bowled collegiately for

Saginaw Valley State University Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) is a public university in University Center, Michigan in Saginaw County. It was founded in 1963 as Saginaw Valley College. It is located on in Saginaw County's Kochville Township, approximately north of ...

where he was a member of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity. He earned first-team All American honors all four years he competed. He was named Bowling Writers Association of America's Collegiate Bowler of the Year in 2001, 2003 and 2004. He was also honored as the Most Valuable Player by the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association in 2003 and 2004. In the 2020

Weber Cup The Weber Cup, named after bowling legend Dick Weber, is a men's ten-pin bowling competition between Team Europe and Team USA. The teams competing over three days in a series of singles, doubles and team (baker) matches. The Weber Cup is equiv ...

, O'Neill and his Team USA teammates defeated Team Europe, 23–18. Overall in the event, O'Neill participated in 12 of 41 matches, going 3–2 in singles, 3–2 in doubles, and 1–1 in team.

PBA career

O'Neill was named PBA Rookie of the Year in his first full PBA season (2005–06), after making match play 11 times in 18 tournaments and appearing once in the TV finals. Despite not winning a tournament, O'Neill had an excellent season in 2008-09. He qualified for match play in a career-high 18 of 20 tournaments, made it to the championship round seven times (a career high until being matched in 2019), and narrowly missed winning the PBA's George Young High Average Award (222.96 to

Wes Malott Wes or WES may refer to: * Westmorland, county in England, Chapman code __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Wes (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Wes Madiko (1964–2021), Cameroonian musici ...

's 222.98). After 83 tournaments and 11 previous finals appearances without winning, O'Neill finally earned his elusive first PBA Tour title in the PBA Chameleon Championship on September 6, 2009, defeating Ronnie Russell in the final match. That same season, O'Neill earned his second PBA Tour title and first major title at the 2009-10 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open. After qualifying as the #2 seed, he defeated Tommy Jones in the semifinal match. He started slowly in the championship match against #1 seed and defending champ

Mike Scroggins Mike Scroggins (born March 12, 1964) is a left-handed professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), having joined in 1989. He resides in Amarillo, TX.Profile at www.pba.co/ref> He has won eight PBA Tour t ...

, converting a spare then leaving an open frame. However, he then rolled the final 10 strikes of the game, for a runaway 267–207 victory. Bill won a then-career high $147,275 in the 2009–10 season. He finished the season tied with

Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Walter Ray Williams Jr. (born October 6, 1959) is an American professional bowler and competitive horseshoes pitcher. He currently holds the record for all-time standard PBA Tour career titles (47) and total PBA earnings (over $4.9 million throu ...

and Mike Scroggins in PBA Player of the Year points, but the honor went to Williams in an overall competition points tie-breaker. At the

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PBA World Series of Bowling, Bill won the

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Viper Championship for his third PBA Tour title. O'Neill also had the highest 60-game qualifying scores among all bowlers at the World Series. This earned him the #1 seed for the 2010–11

PBA World Championship The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateurs to enter.) ...

, which took place January 14–16, 2011. However, he was defeated in the title match by Chris Barnes. He won the Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship on November 10, 2012, beating Mike Wolfe for his fourth PBA Tour title. He then went without a title for all of calendar year 2013. During the PBA's Summer Swing in

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, O'Neill defeated Brian Valenta in the Lucas Oil PBA Badger Open to receive his fifth PBA title. O'Neill also won the special "King of the Swing" challenge at this event for an additional $10,000, though this was a non-title match. At the

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Summer Swing, O'Neill qualified as the #1 seed in the PBA Oklahoma Open, and defeated

Jason Belmonte Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two hand ...

in his lone match to win his sixth PBA title. O'Neill repeated his 2014 win in the King of the Swing (non-title) challenge event to earn an additional $10,000. Bill also finished third in two other Summer Swing events, taking home a total of $36,000 during the five-event series. On August 2, 2015, Bill won his seventh PBA title in the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles championship, teaming with PWBA player

Shannon O'Keefe Shannon O'Keefe (née Rondeau, born January 27, 1979) is an American professional bowler and bowling coach now living in Shiloh, Illinois, who has competed in the United States and internationally. She is an 18-time member of Team USA (2005– ...

to take the top prize. This marked his first season since 2009–10 in which he had multiple titles. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, O'Neill and O'Keefe repeated as champions at the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles championship, giving O'Neill his eighth PBA title. O'Neill collected his ninth PBA title on February 25, 2018, winning the

Mark Roth Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

Marshall Holman Marshall Holman (born September 29, 1954) is an American sports broadcaster and retired professional ten-pin bowler. He was known for his flamboyant, fiery demeanor and his success on the PBA Tour from the mid-1970s to the end of the 1980s. He i ...

PBA Doubles Championship with partner

. On January 6, 2019, O'Neill won his tenth PBA title (and first singles title since 2015) at the season-opening PBA Hall of Fame Classic. At World Series of Bowling X in March, he had top ten finishes in all four events and made two televised finals, but he didn't win a title. O'Neill qualified as the #7 seed for the inaugural

PBA Tour Playoffs The PBA Tour Playoffs is an annual invitational event on the PBA Tour in North America that debuted in the 2019 season. After two years as a 24-player tournament, the event has been set up in a 16-player bracket-style format since 2021. Tournament ...

. He made it all the way to the June 2 finals in this event, but lost to

Kristopher Prather Kristopher "Kris" Prather (born January 1, 1992) of Plainfield, Illinois is an American professional ten-pin bowler who competes on the PBA Tour. He is known for winning the inaugural PBA Tour Playoffs on June 2, 2019 and the PBA Tournament of ...

. O'Neil cashed $40,000 for his runner-up finish, and surpassed the $1,000,000 mark in career earnings during the 2019 season. On August 11, O'Neill won his 11th PBA Tour title at the PBA Harry O'Neale Chesapeake Open. Having qualified as the top seed, he defeated A.J. Chapman in the championship finals for his second title of the 2019 season. O'Neill also won the $25,000 first prize in the FloBowling PBA ATX invite on September 21, 2019. This was a non-title elimination event featuring the top eight points-earners over the nine FloBowling PBA Summer Swing tournaments. Overall in 2019, O'Neill established career highs in cashes (21) and earnings ($185,148), and tied his career high with seven championship round appearances. O'Neill qualified as the #1 seed for the 2020

PBA Tournament of Champions The PBA Tournament of Champions is one of the five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Ten-pin bowling, bowling events. It is an invitational event and the only PBA Tour major that does not have any open field. All participants must meet qu ...

, but lost the championship match to

. Six days later, on February 15, O'Neill won his twelfth PBA Tour title and second major at the 2020

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. He qualified as the #3 seed for the stepladder finals, beating Kris Prather and

in matches #2 and #3, and defeating

E. J. Tackett Edward Dean Tackett Jr. (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Huntington, Indiana, now residing in Bluffton, Indiana. A member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2012, Tackett has won 19 PBA Tour ...

in the championship match by one pin, 233–232. Based on 2020 points, O'Neill qualified as the #2 seed for the season-ending

, earning a bye into the Round of 16. On his way through the brackets, he defeated AJ Johnson,

Kyle Troup Kyle Troup (born June 11, 1991) is an American professional ten-pin bowler residing in Taylorsville, North Carolina. He uses the two-handed shovel-style delivery with a dominant right hand. Troup says he needed two hands when learning to throw ...

and

Tom Smallwood Thomas Smallwood (born November 4, 1977) is a professional ten-pin bowler competing on the PBA Tour. In 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 ...

in single-game matches. He then defeated

Anthony Simonsen Anthony Simonsen (born January 6, 1997) is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Little Elm, Texas, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2014. Simonsen became k ...

in the double-elimination final match, 235–203 and 249–195. O'Neill was rewarded with his 13th PBA Tour title and the $100,000 first prize. On December 18, 2020, the PBA announced that O'Neill had finished runner-up to Jason Belmonte for 2020 PBA Player of the Year. Despite the 2020 season being shortened by COVID-19, O'Neill cashed a career-high $272,285. Through 2019, O'Neill has recorded 30 perfect 300 games in PBA competition. He also has 10 PBA Regional titles.

PBA Tour titles

Major titles in bold type. # 2009–10 PBA Chameleon Championship ( Allen Park, MI) # 2009–10 Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open (

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

) # 2010–11 PBA Viper Championship (

Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

) # 2012–13 PBA Cheetah Championship (Las Vegas, NV) # 2014 PBA Badger Open (

Shawnee, OK Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistica ...

) # 2015 PBA Oklahoma Open (Shawnee, OK) # 2015 PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles w/

(

Houston, TX Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

) # 2016 PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles w/

(Houston, TX) # 2018 Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship w/

(

Columbus, OH Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and ...

) # 2019 PBA Hall of Fame Classic (

Arlington, TX Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

) # 2019 PBA Harry O'Neale Chesapeake Open (

Chesapeake, VA Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

) # 2020 PBA Players Championship (Columbus, OH) # 2020 PBA Tour Playoffs (

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)

World Series of Bowling

Wins (3)

O'Neill and

are the only PBA bowlers to have won three

PBA World Series of Bowling The PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) is an annual multi-tournament ten-pin bowling event held by the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in North America. Formation The inaugural World Series of Bowling event was held by the PBA at the start ...

titles.

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order.'' "T" = Tied for a place

International achievements

Bill is a seven-time member of Team USA. He bowled for Team USA at the 2010 WTBA World Men's Championships, where he won the gold medal match in singles over

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

's Bok Eum Choi, 244–202.Thomas, Jason. "O'Neill golden in singles at World Men's Championships." Article at www.pba.com on August 14, 201

/ref> He also won a trios gold medal with Chris Barnes and Rhino Page, while helping Team USA to gold medals in team and all-events. In 2012, he became the first non-

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

winner in the ''Ballmaster Open'' held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Career statistics

Statistics are through the last complete PBA Tour season. +CRA = Championship Round Appearances

Personal

Bill married Christi White in May 2010. White is a former NCAA bowler and graduate of

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

. Christi delivered the couple's first child, their son Gavin, in February 2013 and a daughter, Avery, in September 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Bill American ten-pin bowling players 1981 births Living people Saginaw Valley State University alumni Bowlers at the 2011 Pan American Games People from Langhorne, Pennsylvania Place of birth missing (living people) Pan American Games medalists in bowling Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games