Liz Johnson (bowler)

Liz Johnson (born May 2, 1974) is a professional bowler, currently residing in Cheektowaga, New York. She was best known as an 11-time winner on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) tour before that organization suspended operations in 2003 due to a lack of corporate sponsorship. She has won six more professional titles since that time, becoming a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) and the PBA Women's Series. Johnson was elected to the USBC Hall of Fame in December 2014, and was officially inducted on April 29, 2015.

PWBA career

Johnson bowled collegiately at Morehead State University before joining the PWBA. On the pro circuit, she started strong, capturing Rookie of the Year honors and a major tour victory at the U.S. Women's Open in 1996. Another PWBA career highlight came in 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. In an emotional event — the first professional sporting event to resume after the attacks — Johnson bowled the third televised perfect 300 game in PWBA history on her way to winning the Paula Carter Classic.

Competing in the PBA

Not to be denied the opportunity to bowl in professional competition, Johnson became a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) — generally regarded as the "men's tour" — in 2004. Early in the 2004-05 season, she made history by becoming the first woman to qualify for a standard PBA tour event, making the Round of 64 at the 2004 Uniroyal Tire Classic. Later that season, she raised the bar even higher by becoming the first woman to make the televised finals of a PBA event (2005 Banquet Open). She won her semifinal match in that event over Wes Malott by a score of 235-228. But she was unable to complete the quest for a title, falling, 219-192, to eventual PBA Player of the Year Tommy Jones in the final match.

Johnson posted another "first" in the summer of 2005 — becoming the first woman to win a PBA event, as she captured the title in a regional tour stop (2005 East Region Kingpin Lanes Open). To win that tournament, she had to defeat four-time PBA titleist Ryan Shafer in the semifinal, and PBA tour veteran Mike Fagan in the finals.

Recent accomplishments

Johnson won the 2007 U.S. Women's Open, 248-215, over close friend and tour roommate Shannon O'Keefe at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. The event returned in 2007 from a three-year hiatus when its rights were acquired by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).

Johnson's first PBA Women's Series title came in the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles event, where she partnered with Norm Duke for the victory on January 6, 2009. In the Baker Doubles format, Johnson threw five of the ten frames in the final match, and had a strike in every frame. Johnson won her first singles title in the PBA Women's Series on September 5, 2009, at the PBA Viper Championship.

Johnson won another major title at the 2009 USBC Queens tournament at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. She qualified as the #1 seed in the 2010 U.S. Women's Open, but lost in the final match to Kelly Kulick, 233-203. Johnson got her revenge on Kulick in the 2013 U.S. Women's Open, defeating her 257-195 in the final match for her third U.S. Open crown. With the victory, Johnson joined Marion Ladewig, Patty Costello and Kulick as the only players to win the U.S. Women's Open at least three times. Following the 2013 event, Johnson cashed an additional $10,000 by winning the "Battle of the Sexes" over men's U.S. Open champion Wes Malott, whom she had also beaten on television in 2005.

Johnson was part of Team USA in 2011—the team that went to the WTBA World Women's Championships in Hong Kong and took home gold for the United States in the team event for the first time since 1987.

Johnson won a major title at the 2015 USBC Queens tournament at the Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley [2] in Green Bay, WI. She entered the May 19 stepladder format finals as the No. 2 seed. After eliminating 2006 Queens champion Shannon Pluhowsky in the semifinals, 234-228, she then defeated top seed Erin McCarthy in a 256-202 final match to win the title, the $20,000 top prize, and the coveted tiara. It was Johnson's second USBC Queens title and sixth career major championship. Liz continued her dominance in 2015, winning her fourth U.S. Women's Open on September 6, 2015. As in her 2007 U.S. Women's Open win, Johnson defeated Shannon O'Keefe in the final match to take the $50,000 top prize. Johnson is now one of only two women to have won the U.S. Women's Open at least four times (with Marion Ladewig being the other). Liz is also the first player to successfully defend a U.S. Women's Open title since Dottie Fothergill in 1968–69.

At the December 2015 World Women Championship (WWC) in Abu Dhabi, Johnson bowled 300 as anchor bowler in the final as Team USA won the Gold Medal in the WWC team(-of-five) competition, and received the individual Silver Medal in the all-events total score (5586), one pin behind the gold medal recipient (5587).

In the media

Johnson was named "Female Bowler of the Decade" (2000–2009) in the Winter, 2010 issue of U.S. Bowler.

Style

Johnson's bowling style is considered to be mechanically sound and consistent, not flashy. "If you were to compare Major League Baseball superstar Roger Clemens and his 95 mile-per-hour fastball to Tommy Jones' mega-hook power game in bowling, you could compare Johnson's game to another 300-game winner: Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux, who throws an 85 mph fastball but almost never walks enemy batters because of his pin-point accuracy."

Awards and recognition

• 1992 Girls Scratch Champion, Coca-Cola Youth Bowling Championships
• 1993 Collegiate Rookie of the Year and Collegiate Bowler of the Year
• U.S. Amateur Champion in back-to-back years (1993–94)
• Member of Team USA - 1994, which won the gold medal at the World Tenpin Team Cup in Malaysia
• 1996 PWBA Rookie of the Year
• Three-time U.S. Women's Open champion (1996, 2007, 2013)
• Two-time USBC Queens Champion (2009, 2015)
• Named "Female Bowler of the Decade" (2000–2009) in the Winter, 2010 issue of U.S. Bowler
• Honored June 19, 2014 as "Excellence in Sports" Award recipient by the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in Troy, Michigan.
• Inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame on April 29, 2015