Parker Bohn III

Parker Morse Bohn III (born July 13, 1963 in Jackson Township, New Jersey) is a left-handed American professional bowler and has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association since 1984. He currently ranks fifth all-time with 31 career PBA titles and has earned over $2.6 million in PBA events—good for third on the all-time list behind only Walter Ray Willams, Jr. and Pete Weber. Bohn also won the $150,000 winner-take-all prize in the 2008 Motel 6 "Roll to Riches" event, but the earnings in this event do not count toward PBA career totals. He has thrown 79 career perfect 300 games in PBA competition.

Bohn's best pro season came in 1999, when he won five titles and earned PBA Player of the Year honors. The '99 season featured a streak in which Parker won eight consecutive televised matches. He would also be named Player of the Year in the 2001-02 season, a year highlighted by his only major championship title (2001 ABC Masters). His 1999 single-season average record of 228.03 ranks third all-time (topped only by Norm Duke's 228.47 in 2006-07 and Walter Ray Williams' 228.43 in 2007-08). One of the true "nice guys" on tour, Bohn is a four-time winner of the PBA's Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award. He is a member of both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.

Highly active in promoting youth bowling, Bohn has established an annual Parker Bohn III Youth Scholarship Tournament. Since its inception in 1999, Parker has awarded over $30,000 to junior bowlers in the form of college scholarships.

Bohn currently lives in New Jersey with his wife, Leslie, and three children, Justin, Brandon, and Sydney. He has two sons from his first marriage, Parker IV and Evan, with whom he has minimal contact. He is the brother-in-law of fellow PBA bowler, Doug Kent. Parker Bohn (the first), PBIII's grandfather, was a five-time stock car (Modifieds and Sportsmen) racing champion at Wall (NJ) Stadium near his home at the Jersey Shore.

In the media

Besides making regular appearances on ABC-TV, CBS-TV and ESPN during his years on the PBA tour, Bohn has authored a book (with text by Dan Herbst) called "Bowling: How to Master the Game" (Universe Publishing).

A bowling arcade game also bears his name: Parker Bohn III Pro Bowler. The full-motion video game features audio voice-over by Parker himself.

He also appeared in the movie Kingpin with Woody Harrelson for a brief scene.

Awards and recognition

* Inducted into PBA Hall of Fame, 2000
* Inducted into USBC Hall of Fame, 2007
* PBA Player of the Year (1999, 2001-02)
* Harry Smith PBA Points Leader award (1999, 2001-02)
* George Young PBA High Average award (1999, 2001-02)
* Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)
* Currently holds the PBA record with 79 perfect 300 games bowled in tour competition

References

* [http://parkerbohn.com/ Official Parker Bohn website]
* [http://pba.com/ Official website of the Professional Bowlers Association]