TV Lights and Cameras Brighten Lanes Where Five Roll for $35,000 : Bowling: Ron Williams wins top qualifying position after match-play portion of tournament.

It’s showtime for pro bowling today.

The scene inside Gable House Bowl in Torrance completely changes from a center full of bowling thunder to utter silence between shots as ABC hauls out the television cameras for the 29th consecutive year to give the nation a view of the AC-Delco PBA final at noon.

Only five bowlers from an original field of 160 will be on the lanes for an hour and a half.

A limited audience of 600 is expected to crowd around Lanes 13 and 14 to watch firsthand a four-game elimination to decide who takes home the $35,000 first prize.

Competing for that money will be these finalists, with their seedings in the order they finished after 42 games:

1. Ron Williams from Texas; 2. Mark Thayer from Indiana; 3. Dave Husted from Oregon; 4. Marshall Holman, the all-time money leader from Oregon, and 5. Mark Williams, also of Texas.

California just missed making the final when Mark Baker of Huntington Beach fell a few pins shy despite a 247 score in the 42nd game.

In the elimination of one-game matches, No. 5 will open against No. 4 with the winner taking on No. 3. The winner of that match faces No. 2 to decide the opponent for Ron Williams in the title showdown.

Mike Aulby, the 1989 money champion, scored the tournament’s third 300 game Friday. He had another near miss at the end of the semifinals.

The scene for today’s play dramatically changes for the players.

The silence between shots is so deafening during the show “you can actually hear it,” said 16-year ABC-TV bowling analyst Nelson Burton Jr.

“Glare from the TV lights gives the lanes a totally different look to the bowler,” said Burton, winner of seven career PBA titles on television. “The adrenaline flows and the heartbeat goes up from the pressure of a sudden death match .

Bowling Notes

A 300 game today can earn the bowler additional prizes--a new car from the tournament sponsor and $100,000 from another PBA tour sponsor. Pete McCordic was first to collect the money jackpot with a TV 300 several seasons ago here.

Most bizarre happening in a title rolloff, Burton recalled, occurred at Gable House Bowl in 1983. “Leaving the 4-7-6-9-10 pins after striking in the 10th frame, Don Genalo was so upset he threw his last ball into the gutter, not realizing he only needed one more pin to defeat Jimmie Pritts. Genalo thought he had lost the match and forgot to check with the scorekeeper. Quite a faux pas, I’d say.”

The PBA tour is featuring more than $7 million in prize money on the 1990 tour of 37 tournaments. Next stop is Las Vegas.