Santa Ana employee wins one of bowling’s most elite championships

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Absolute unknown.

That is how a Fox Sports broadcaster described DeeRonn Booker on Sunday on what would prove to be the most important day of Booker’s young career.

Those two words were certainly a reference to his status prior to this week.

Then Booker went out and changed — obliterated — the narrative.

Booker, who bowls out of the Starlight Bowling Center — where he is the pro shop manager at the lanes located inside the Santa Ana Star Casino — on Sunday afternoon captured one of the most prestigious bowling championships in the world, the USBC Masters in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Albuquerque’s Booker, 33, defeated Patrick Dombrowski of Parma, Ohio, 217-177 in the last of the four stepladder matches at the Suncoast Bowling Center. The USBC Masters is one of the major championships on the PBA Tour.

The victory was worth $100,000.

“I knew I was gonna be here sometime,” Booker said in his post-match TV interview on Fox. He is from Pomona, California. “I’m here now, I’m not goin’ anywhere, I hope you guys can see me.”

Booker became just the third African-American man to win on the PBA Tour, joining George Branham III and Gary Faulkner Jr. Those two also won majors — Branham in 1993, Faulkner in 2015.

“What this does is, inspires me to keep inspiring others to do this, to get here, to be here,” Booker said. “So when I get back home, you guys at Santa Ana Star Casino, come and see me, let’s do this together.”

This was Booker’s first victory on the PBA Tour. He is only in his second season as a full-time pro.

“I’m trying to come up with the words. This is a lot,” he said. “Right now, this is what matters.”

Booker was the top seed for the stepladder finals on Sunday. He bowled a clean game and also picked up a huge break in the sixth frame. A high-pocket hit looked like it might leave the 4-9 split, but that was avoided when a pin went to the boards and barely knocked both pins over.

Two frames later, it appeared he left a solid 10 pin, but a messenger pin rolled across the lane and barely toppled the 10 just before the rack came down.

Booker’s unlikely victory included taking down some of the sport’s heavyweights.

During double-elimination bracket match play action on Thursday and Friday, Booker defeated both two-time defending Masters champion Anthony Simonsen, and also the current U.S. Open champion, EJ Tackett.

He qualified 58th (out of 465 players) in the 64-player double-elimination bracket, but went undefeated in the bracket to earn the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals, meaning he had to win just one game for the title. Booker clearly overcame some early nerves, as his first shot of the championship match crossed over and went to the Brooklyn side. The right-hander clinched the match in the 10th frame.

For Booker, it was his first TV finals appearance in bowling — but this was not his first TV appearance.

In 2009, Booker not only was a contestant on the popular “The Price is Right” game show, but he won the showcase showdown that day. His payout was considerably less than Sunday, of course.

“There’s no comparison,” he said. “I’m doing something that I absolutely love to do. I’m so honored and I am so blessed to be able to continue to do this as a full-time professional.”