PBA World Championship

The PBA World Championship is one of the four major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. Prior to 2002, the tournament was called the PBA National Championship. The PBA National Championship was first contested in 1960, then called the First Annual National Championship. PBA Hall of Famer Don Carter won the first National Championship title.

The National Championship and World Championship have been contested over the years using a variety of formats. Currently, the PBA World Championship's format is different from normal PBA Tour events, in that the qualifying scores come (at least partially) from other stand-alone tournaments. And unlike many events, it is open to the entire PBA membership.

Norm Duke won the Denny's World Championship on February 24, 2008 at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was Duke's second career World Championship win and fourth major title overall. Entering the tournament, Duke stood 51st on the PBA points list, 12 behind the "cut line" to earn a Tour exemption for 2008-09. The World Championship victory guaranteed him a spot in the PBA's exempt field for the next two seasons. Duke repeated as PBA World Champion in the opening event of the 2008-09 season, defeating Chris Barnes 259-189. With his additional win in the 2008 U.S. Open, Duke set a PBA record by winning three consecutive major tournaments.

For the 2009-10 season, the PBA World Championship was part of a multi-tournament event held in Allen Park, MI called "The PBA World Series of Bowling," and was contested in a split format. The qualifying rounds of the tournament were contested August 31-September 4, with the televised finals being broadcast live on ESPN December 13, 2009. The PBA again held the World Series of Bowling in 2010, moving it to Las Vegas, Nevada, and again used it as qualifying for the 2010-11 PBA World Championship. This time, the 60-game qualifying scores for the five "animal pattern" championships held at the World Series were used to determine the 8-bowler TV field for the PBA World Championship finals. The World Championship finals were televised live over three consecutive days (January 14–16, 2011), a PBA first.

At the 2011 World Series of Bowling, the qualifying rounds of four "animal" oil pattern events determined the top 25% of the field for the "cashers' round" of the PBA World Championship. Eight additional games then determined the 32-player match play field for the World Championship. For the first time, ESPN aired the entire 16-player quarterfinal "eliminator" rounds over four broadcasts (December 11, December 18, January 1 and January 8), with the final round airing on January 15.