William "Bill" O'Neill is a right-handed professional ten-pin bowler

Ten-pin bowling

Ten-pin bowling is a competitive sport in which a player rolls a bowling ball down a wooden or synthetic lane with the objective of scoring points by knocking down as many pins as possible.-Summary:The lane is bordered along its length by semicylindrical channels Ten-pin bowling (commonly just...

 who competes on the PBA Tour

PBA Tour

The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the PBA Tour consists of "exempt" bowlers who are a part of the almost 4,300 members worldwide...

 in North America. He is a resident of Southampton, Pennsylvania

Southampton, Pennsylvania

Southampton, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, situated in the South-Eastern tip of Bucks County.Southampton is located 18 miles North, from the center of Philadelphia....

. His nickname on tour is "The Real Deal". O'Neill was the 2009-10 U.S. Open

U.S. Open (bowling)

The U.S. Open is one of the four major tournaments in the Professional Bowlers Association. The first modern-day U.S. Open tournament in the PBA took place in 1971 and was won by Mike Limongello. With four victories, Pete Weber holds the most modern-day U.S. Open trophies.The U.S...

 champion, winning the event on February 28, 2010. (See: PBA Bowling Tour: 2009-10 season

PBA Bowling Tour: 2009-10 season

- Tournament Schedule and Recaps :In a cost-cutting move, the PBA held the first half of the 2009-10 season in Allen Park, MI under the name PBA World Series of Bowling. Preliminary rounds of the televised tournaments were held in August, with television tapings on Labor Day weekend...

.)

Collegiate career

O'Neill bowled collegiately for Saginaw Valley State University

Saginaw Valley State University

Saginaw Valley State University, commonly known as SVSU, is a state university in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in the middle of Michigan's lower peninsula in the Saginaw Valley region. The university is located in Kochville Township, Saginaw County...

, earning first-team All American honors all four years he competed. He was named Bowling Writers Association of America's Collegiate Bowler of the Year in 2001, 2003 and 2004. He was also honored as the Most Valuable Player by the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association in 2003 and 2004.

PBA career

O'Neill was named PBA Rookie of the Year in his first full PBA season (2005-06), after making the Round of 32 match play 11 times in 18 tournaments and appearing once in the TV finals.

Despite not winning a tournament, O'Neill had an excellent season in 2008-09

PBA Bowling Tour: 2008-09 season

-Season Highlights:On October 1, 2008, the PBA began a three-year sponsorship deal with Lumber Liquidators, making the American hardwood flooring retailer the tour's title sponsor through the 2010-11 season...

. He qualified for match play in a career-high 18 of 20 tournaments, made the TV finals seven times, and narrowly missed winning the PBA's George Young High Average Award (222.96 to Wes Malott

Wes Malott

Wesley Clint "Big Nasty" Malott is an American professional ten-pin bowler who resides in Pflugerville, Texas. He has six titles in eight full seasons on the PBA tour, having won at least one title in four straight seasons . He also won the 2006–07 Showplace Lanes Megabucks Shootout, which is not...

's 222.98).

After 83 tournaments and 11 previous TV finals appearances without winning, O'Neill finally earned his elusive first PBA Tour title in the PBA Chameleon Championship on September 6, 2009, defeating Ronnie Russell in the final match by a score of 205-192.

O'Neill earned his second PBA Tour title and first major title at the 2009-10 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open. After qualifying as the #2 seed, he defeated Tommy Jones in the semifinal match, 203-152. He started slowly in the championship match against #1 seed and defending champ Mike Scroggins

Mike Scroggins

Mike Scroggins is a left-handed professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association , having joined in 1989. He resides in Amarillo, TX.Profile at www.pba.com He has won eight PBA Tour titles in his career, including two majors. He won the USBC Masters in 2005 and the...

, converting a spare then leaving an open frame. But he then rolled the final 10 strikes of the game, for a 267-207 victory.

He finished the 2009-10 season tied with Walter Ray Williams, Jr. and Mike Scroggins in PBA Player of the Year points, but the honor went to Williams in an overall competition points tie-breaker.

At the 2010 PBA World Series of Bowling, O'Neill had the highest 60-game qualifying scores among all bowlers. This earned him the #1 seed for the 2010-11 PBA World Championship

PBA World Championship

The PBA World Championship is one of the four major PBA 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...

, which took place January 14-16, 2011. But he was defeated in the final match at that event by Chris Barnes, 267-237. At the World Series, Bill also won the Pepsi

Pepsi

Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...

 Viper Championship for his third PBA Tour title.

Through 2010-11, O'Neill has thrown 15 perfect 300 games in PBA competition. He has cashed $493,780 in PBA Tour earnings.

International Achievements

Bill bowled for Team USA at the 2010 WTBA World Men's Championships, where he won the gold medal match in singles over South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

's Choi Bok-Eum, 244-202. He also won a trios gold medal with Chris Barnes and Rhino Page

Rhino Page

Ryan "Rhino" Page is a left-handed bowler on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, and was the 2008 PBA Rookie of the Year. He is also a former U.S. Amateur champion, winning the event in 2005. A San Diego, California native, Page now resides in Dade City, FL...

, while helping Team USA to gold medals in team and all-events.

Personal

Bill was married to Christi White, a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University

Fairleigh Dickinson University

Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...

in May, 2010.