Mike Scroggins

After bowling collegiately at West Texas State University, Scroggins joined the PBA tour in 1989. His first title was the 1992 Sacramento Open, in his television debut.[1] He then went 12 years without a title until he won the Baby Ruth Real Deal Classic in the 2003–04 season.[1] In the 2005–06 season he won his first career major, the 2005 USBC Masters.[4] He cashed a career-high $205,270 in 2005–06 and set a PBA record this season by rolling 79 straight games of 200 or higher over a two-tournament span, breaking the previous record of 61 games set by Walter Ray Williams Jr.[1]

In the 2007–08 season, he won multiple titles in one season for the first time in his career: in Fountain Valley, CA and Omaha, NE.[1]

In 2009, he won the 66th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open, the second major of his career. As the #2 seed, he defeated Chris Barnes 200–199 in the semifinal. Barnes, who was aiming to win Player of the Year with the U.S. Open title, needed a strike and six pins to win the match. However, he suffered from possibly the worst break in bowling, leaving a solid 8 pin on his first shot of the 10th frame. Then, needing a strike to tie, he left the flat 10 pin on nearly the exact same shot line, which gave Scroggins the win.[5] Scroggins moved on to play defending champion and top seed Norm Duke in the final. Duke, like Barnes, also had a chance to win Player of the Year with a U.S. Open title. But Scroggins defeated Duke 191–173 to win his second career major. In winning the title he earned $100,000 in prize money and a three-year tour exemption.[5]

He had a chance to repeat as U.S. Open champion when he qualified as the #1 seed for the February 28, 2010 TV finals. However, he lost in the final match to Bill O'Neill, 267–207.[6] Scroggins would rebound the very next week, winning his 8th PBA title at the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator Championship.[7] This was his second title of the 2009–10 season, following his earlier win at the Pepsi Red, White & Blue Open. He finished the 2009–10 season tied with Walter Ray Williams, Jr. and Bill O'Neill in PBA Player of the Year points, but the honor went to Williams in an overall competition points tie-breaker.[8]

Scroggins has 40 PBA Regional titles, four PBA50 Regional titles, and is a four-time PBA Southwest Region Player of the Year. He also currently holds the second-highest league average ever recorded in USBC history—256.8 in a 1999-2000 Amarillo, TX trio league. It was the highest league average until Jeff Carter established a new record the following season with a 261.7 average.[9] Scroggins also holds the USBC record for most sanctioned 800 series in a season (15).[1]

Scroggins lives in Amarillo, TX with his wife Melanie. The couple has three children. He has a twin brother, Mark, who was the 1993 PBA Rookie of the Year and was exempt for the 2007-08 PBA season.[1]