Mike Aulby

Mike Aulby (born March 25, 1960, in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a left-handed bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He is one of only three PBA bowlers to win both a Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year award. (Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes are the others.)

PBA career

Mike Aulby joined the PBA Tour in 1978 and captured his first title and Rookie of the Year honors in 1979. He would go on to win 18 titles in the 1980s, nine in the 1990s, and one more in 2001, giving him 29 titles in all for 8th place all-time. The victory at the 2001 Silicon Valley Open also made him the only bowler in history to win at least one regular PBA Tour title in four decades. (Dick Weber, Johnny Petraglia and Dave Soutar have PBA titles in five decades, but each needed PBA Senior Tour wins in the fourth and fifth decades.)

Mike was named PBA Player of the Year in 1985 and 1995. In 1989, he collected a then-record $298,237 in winnings.

Among Mike's 29 titles are eight major championships. The eight majors place him in a tie with Pete Weber and Walter Ray Williams Jr. for 2nd most all-time. Only Earl Anthony (10) has won more major titles. Aulby is one of only six bowlers to capture the PBA career "Triple Crown" (winning the U.S. Open, PBA National Championship and Tournament of Champions) -- and along with Norm Duke and Billy Hardwick, the only of the six to add the ABC Masters title for a career "Grand Slam."

In the 1993 Wichita Open, Aulby rolled a nationally-televised 300 game to win the title over David Ozio, 300-279.^[1] This marked just the second time a nationally-televised 300 game was rolled in a title match (after Bob Benoit).

Mr. Aulby was known as a true gentleman on tour. "Reserved, thoughtful, and pleasant, he's as polite when he's losing as when he's winning."^[2] This led to him winning the PBA's Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award two times.

Awards and recognition

• PBA Rookie of the Year (1979)
• PBA Player of the Year (1985, 1995)
• Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award (1994, 1995)
• Best Bowler ESPY (1996)
• Elected to PBA Hall of Fame, 1996
• Elected to USBC Hall of Fame, 2001
• Ranked 6th on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"

References

1. ^ Feldman, Michelle. "Paying the price for III-timed perfection...The Match I'll Never Forget." Bowling Digest, April, 2003.
2. ^ "Not Fade Away: Mike Aulby, Champion Bowler Interview", Lyle Zikes, Bowling Digest, June, 2001.

• PBA.com, official site of the Professional Bowlers Association

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Name	Aulby, Mike
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Date of birth	March 25, 1960
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