Norm Duke won his second major title of the year Sunday, capturing the PBA U.S. Open. Duke defeated Mika Koivuniemi 224-216 in the championship match, but it wasn't easy.

Needing just a mark in the 10th frame to secure the win, Duke left the 2-4-5-8, known as "the bucket," on his first shot. Duke calmly stepped up and converted.

En route to beating Koivuniemi for the title, Duke defeated Doug Kent 234-160 and Chris Loschetter 267-245.

Norm Duke earned $100,000 for the victory.

The PBA season has ended. Up next is the Roll for Riches event in April.

Trivia question

Duke became the first No. 3 seed since 1996 to win the U.S. Open. Who won the title from that position in 1996? Answer at the end of the column.

Tip of the Week

The 2-4-5-8 and its counterpart, the 3-5-6-9, are two of the most difficult spare conversions you will face. The hard part of the spare is converting the "sleeper" pins, in this case the 8 or 9 pin.

There are many schools of thought on how to convert this spare. One way is to move your feet five to seven boards to the right and use your strike target, hooking at the shot. By hooking at it, this allows the ball to travel through the 2-4-5 and into the 8.

"Get them all with the ball" is the popular saying that covers this way of shooting this spare.

Top scorers

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Armco C: Chuck Dight 246 (670), Dave Peters 243 (655), Bill Yusko, Jr. 236 (638)•

Firearms League: Greg Reen 235 (678), Butch Basham Jr. 244 (653), Donna Montgomery 202 (522)•

Buckhorn: Dan Bothell 237 (705), Wayne Blank 256 (681), Dave Morgan 258 (667), Jeff Suchonic 232 (667)•

Kelly Auto: Dan Manning 267 (749), Brad Buckley 290 (691), Jim Blurton 258 (675)•

Fox's Pizza Den: Marty Gilliland 247 (678), Gary Gregg 245 (716)•

Coins: Linda Smith 221, Betty McIndoe 530 series, Jan McGee 209, Vicki Stevick,209, Mary Carbin 213, Edie Smith 201.Add one to the listIn a previous issue, Eagle sports editor John Enrietto, with some information provided by Ron Brandon, wrote an excellent article on the history of the high sanctioned three-game series in Butler County.One gap was during the 1986-87 season, when Ron Steighner held the county high of 810. The list then went to Kurt Huff's 816 series. In between, though, was Tom Fry's 814 series that included a 300 game. There have been a total of 18 high triple records in the county's history. John Bulger holds the current record at 870.Trivia answerDave Husted was the last No. 3 seed to capture the PBA U.S. Open.Ron Willison is the bowling columnist for the Butler Eagle.