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Tom Smallwood
Thomas Smallwood (born November 5, 1977) is an American 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 Wes Malott in the final match. Smallwood has won three PBA Tour titles, two of which are majors. He has finished runner-up in three other PBA major championships.
Growing up in Flushing, Michigan, Smallwood's parents took him as a toddler to Colonial Lanes for their Sunday-night mixed league which led to his interest in bowling. He played other sports but always came back to bowling. He went to Saginaw Valley State University, but soon quit to be a bowler.
At age 19, Smallwood went to Las Vegas for a 1997 high-roller amateur (non-PBA) tournament for the first time. He fell short of winning $10,000 on the second day.
Tom had been an excellent bowler in classic leagues in and around Saginaw, and supplemented his income by competing in local tournaments and a few open PBA events. He estimated that even in a lean year, he would net an extra $10,000 to $15,000 from bowling. He qualified for his PBA Tour card in 2003–04 because he did well in PBA Regional Tour events. However, he did not handle the pressure well in his first try on the national PBA Tour, missing the cut in 19 of 20 events. He finished 53rd on the Tour points list and did not make the next season's all-exempt Tour.
Smallwood then found a job at a metal shop as his then-girlfriend (now wife) Jennifer would not marry a man without a regular paycheck. At age 30, Tom had decided he was "done" with trying to be a full-time bowler, content to work during the week and bowl weekend tournaments that paid as little as $800 for first place. He then got a job at General Motors' Pontiac East Assembly Plant in the Spring of 2008 only to get laid off two days before Christmas. Tom, then married and with one child, agreed to look for a new job for two months before considering a return to the PBA Tour. Smallwood practiced for free at State Lanes in Saginaw after job applications did not pan out, having been a regular league bowler there and being neighbors of the owners, Anne and Steve Doyle.
Still looking for a regular job, Smallwood learned that the PBA Tour Trials would be held in the Detroit area in May, 2009, making travel a non-issue. He swore to Jen that this would be his last attempt at bowling for a PBA Tour card. He and Jen scraped together the $1500 entry fee and Tom finished third at the Trials (out of 97 bowlers), easily making the top eight who gained PBA exemptions for the 2009–10 season. "I always felt I could compete out there [on the Tour], but I was also content with working and staying with my family," Smallwood said in an interview with USA Today just prior to the PBA World Championship finals.
Ironically, he was offered a chance to go back to work at General Motors, when a representative from that company's job bank called him just days before the 2009 World Championship finals. Smallwood had to decline, telling the rep that he was a full-time bowler now and would in fact be on ESPN television that Sunday. Smallwood, now a 32-year old "rookie", then shocked the bowling world on December 13, 2009, by making it to the final match of the PBA World Championship and defeating reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott, 244–228, for the title.
With his major tournament win at the PBA World Championship, Smallwood earned a PBA Tour exemption through the 2011–12 season. In his first full season on the PBA Tour, he made 15 cuts and eight match-play rounds in 18 events, while appearing in three televised finals. Tom's "rags to riches" victory in the World Championship was voted #47 in the PBA's "60 Most Memorable Moments" list, revealed as part of the PBA Tour's 60th Anniversary celebrations during the 2018 season.
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Tom Smallwood
Thomas Smallwood (born November 5, 1977) is an American 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 Wes Malott in the final match. Smallwood has won three PBA Tour titles, two of which are majors. He has finished runner-up in three other PBA major championships.
Growing up in Flushing, Michigan, Smallwood's parents took him as a toddler to Colonial Lanes for their Sunday-night mixed league which led to his interest in bowling. He played other sports but always came back to bowling. He went to Saginaw Valley State University, but soon quit to be a bowler.
At age 19, Smallwood went to Las Vegas for a 1997 high-roller amateur (non-PBA) tournament for the first time. He fell short of winning $10,000 on the second day.
Tom had been an excellent bowler in classic leagues in and around Saginaw, and supplemented his income by competing in local tournaments and a few open PBA events. He estimated that even in a lean year, he would net an extra $10,000 to $15,000 from bowling. He qualified for his PBA Tour card in 2003–04 because he did well in PBA Regional Tour events. However, he did not handle the pressure well in his first try on the national PBA Tour, missing the cut in 19 of 20 events. He finished 53rd on the Tour points list and did not make the next season's all-exempt Tour.
Smallwood then found a job at a metal shop as his then-girlfriend (now wife) Jennifer would not marry a man without a regular paycheck. At age 30, Tom had decided he was "done" with trying to be a full-time bowler, content to work during the week and bowl weekend tournaments that paid as little as $800 for first place. He then got a job at General Motors' Pontiac East Assembly Plant in the Spring of 2008 only to get laid off two days before Christmas. Tom, then married and with one child, agreed to look for a new job for two months before considering a return to the PBA Tour. Smallwood practiced for free at State Lanes in Saginaw after job applications did not pan out, having been a regular league bowler there and being neighbors of the owners, Anne and Steve Doyle.
Still looking for a regular job, Smallwood learned that the PBA Tour Trials would be held in the Detroit area in May, 2009, making travel a non-issue. He swore to Jen that this would be his last attempt at bowling for a PBA Tour card. He and Jen scraped together the $1500 entry fee and Tom finished third at the Trials (out of 97 bowlers), easily making the top eight who gained PBA exemptions for the 2009–10 season. "I always felt I could compete out there [on the Tour], but I was also content with working and staying with my family," Smallwood said in an interview with USA Today just prior to the PBA World Championship finals.
Ironically, he was offered a chance to go back to work at General Motors, when a representative from that company's job bank called him just days before the 2009 World Championship finals. Smallwood had to decline, telling the rep that he was a full-time bowler now and would in fact be on ESPN television that Sunday. Smallwood, now a 32-year old "rookie", then shocked the bowling world on December 13, 2009, by making it to the final match of the PBA World Championship and defeating reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott, 244–228, for the title.
With his major tournament win at the PBA World Championship, Smallwood earned a PBA Tour exemption through the 2011–12 season. In his first full season on the PBA Tour, he made 15 cuts and eight match-play rounds in 18 events, while appearing in three televised finals. Tom's "rags to riches" victory in the World Championship was voted #47 in the PBA's "60 Most Memorable Moments" list, revealed as part of the PBA Tour's 60th Anniversary celebrations during the 2018 season.