BOWLING : As the Season Gets Started, the Game Is Seeking a King

Victory will be doubly sweet for one of 160 pro bowlers beginning play in the four-day $200,000 AC Delco tournament at 9 a.m. today at Gable House Bowl in Torrance.

The winner not only will earn $40,000 as tournament champion but also the title of “king of the hill” for the week.

Under a new format for Professional Bowlers Assn. finals, a “king of the hill” will play a one-game challenge against the next tournament champion along the 1993 winter tour, according to Mike Connor, PBA commissioner.

The “king of the hill” will become part of a new format for the PBA’s 1 1/2-hour, four-game nationally telecast match-play finals. The new format begins next week at Phoenix, Connor said.

After stepladder competition determines the Phoenix champion, there will be a $5,000 winner-take-all shootout, matching that bowler against the “king of the hill,” in this case, the Torrance champion.

“It is remotely possible one player could successfully defend his ‘kingship’ on 15 successive Saturdays and collect even more than $5,000 at a time, since there is the possibility of increased winner-take-all prize money later,” Connor said.

In 1992, 30 different players qualified for the first six tournament finals.

“This indicates how deep we are in top talent,” Connor said. “However, TV people tell us it is the star system that attracts larger viewing audiences. A ‘king of the hill,’ we hope, will guarantee the appearance of more identifiable name players on future telecasts.”

He added that the PBA has several options to implement the new format if a bowler wins at both Torrance and Phoenix.

“If that happens, we plan to designate our 1992 PBA player of the year (Dave Ferraro) as challenger to the ‘king’ at Phoenix,” Connor said. “Should the player of the year win both at Torrance and Phoenix, our 1992 money champion (Mark McDowell) will be brought in as the first to challenge the ‘king.’ ”