Tom Baker came up one spot short of a record third straight Senior Masters title
(Photo courtesy PBA)
Coming from the winners bracket winning his first five matches, the 51-year-old Parks in his second year on the PBA Senior Tour, lost the first three-game match to Baker, 595-545, necessitating a second match which he won, 681-589. In so doing, he denied Baker?s quest to become the Senior Masters? first three-time winner.
For Parks, who won the $16,000 first prize, it was his first Senior Tour title with his best previous finish being third at the last PBA Senior Tour stop in May in Jackson, Mich. In fact, it was his first professional title of any kind with a second in a recent PBA regional tournament being his previous best.
After losing the first match Parks remained confident he could still win the tournament but was looking forward to moving to a new pair of lanes for the second three games.
"Going into the finals from the winners bracket gave me that little extra security that I could still lose the first match and have another chance," Parks said. "I was struggling on the first pair but I was still pretty comfortable. The fact that I had a better shot on the other pair made me feel pretty confident."
In a previous winners bracket match on Friday, Parks defeated Baker 664-568 sending the three-time Senior Tour Player of the Year to the losers bracket.
"Even though I beat him that match I told him I hoped to see him in the finals and that's exactly what happened," Parks added.
Baker admitted to being a little overwhelmed in trying to figure out the conditions on both pairs during the championship match.
"I was thinking and adjusting so much I think I confused myself," Baker said jokingly. "I have to give Kenny a lot of credit, the way he bowled and kept it together after losing the first match was pretty awesome."
Baker earned $8,000 for his second place finish.
The next stop on the PBA Senior Tour is another major, the PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by the Suncoast June 15-20 in Las Vegas.
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