Going into the DFW 9-Ball Tour finale, held on the weekend of Nov. 10-11, the 2018 Tour Championship title was still very much in play. CJ Wiley stood atop the 10-stop point standings, poised to win it all, though Paul Guernsey and TJ Davis were a hair-width 40 and 80 points away (680-640-600). Had Guernsey won the final tour stop, with Wiley as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. If Davis had won with Guernsey as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. Had Wiley faltered in his quest for the event win and Tour Champion title, there were numerous ways it might have turned out.

 

But he didn’t falter. He faced seven opponents, including Jeremy Jones twice (early and late), played 84 games, winning (on average) three out of every four of them and finished undefeated to claim both the season finale and 2018 Tour Championship titles. The $5,000-added event drew 64 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.

 

As it turned out, Wiley and Davis faced each other in the hot seat match. Wiley had gotten by Neil Nabil Saidawi and Douglas Pitts before running into Jeremy Jones for the first time. In races to 9, handicapped with Fargo Ratings, Jones chalked up more racks against Wiley (6) in their third-round meeting than any other opponent Wiley faced all weekend, including Jones in their later meeting in the finals. Wiley then advanced to meet and defeat Phil Auteri, which set him up to face Jordan Gartenberg in one of the winners’ side semifinals.

 

Davis, meanwhile, had defeated Michael Montgomery, Cody Wright, Brian Horvath and Greg Sandifer to draw Jersey Jack Lynch in the other winner’s side semifinal. Davis sent Lynch to the loss side 8-2, as Wiley shut Gartenberg out to join him. Wiley assured himself a minimum second place finish by defeating Davis 9-2. Davis moved to the semifinals, having secured a minimum third place finish.

 

On the loss side, Jones was at work on the seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would earn him a re-match against Wiley in the finals. A victory over Denny Sneed put Jones into the first money round (13th-16th) where he defeated Oscar Araujo 9-4. He advanced to eliminate Greg Sandifer and Tim Larson, both 9-5, to draw Gartenberg, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Jersey Jack Lynch drew Corey Flud, who’d been sent to the loss side by Jones in the second round and was on his own seven-match, loss-side quest for a re-match, against Jones. Flud eliminated Billy Guy, Douglas Pitts, Suliman Abu Salem and Steve Raynes, before defeating Clint Palaci, double hill, and Phil Auteri 7-3 to draw Jersey Jack.

 

Flud earned his quarterfinal re-match against Jones with a 7-5 victory over Lynch. Jones did his part with a 9-2 victory over Gartenberg. Flud started the quarterfinal with two on the wire in a race to 9. Jones defeated him a second time 9-4, and then moved on to give up only a single rack in a semifinal win over Davis.

 

Their Fargo Rates are 37 points apart with Jones given the edge over Wiley, 749-712. Wiley defied the FargoRate Match odds, giving him a roughly 30% chance of winning (29.6% to be precise). Jones chalked up the second-highest number of racks against him in the tournament, but Wiley took the match 9-5 to claim both the event and Tour Champion title.

 

Wiley finished the event as he’d started it, at the top of the tour rankings. TJ Davis and Paul Guernsey (who finished the event in the tie for 25th) switched places; Davis, finishing second and Guernsey finishing third. In addition to awarding the Tour Championship to Wiley, the tour gave a Best Sportsman Award to Billy Guy.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty's Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Super Billiards Store JB Cases, Outsville (Accu-Rack), Granite Guyz, BCAPL/CSI and Dallas Eight-Ball League. 

Chase Rudder has been bringing home cash from Texas tournaments for at least 15 years, having shown up in our database for the first time in 2003, finishing 9th at a stop on the Fast Eddie’s tour in Houston. Since that time, his participation and earnings at the table have ranged from sparse to prolific. He didn’t show up on payout lists at all from 2004 to 2008, and then, after finishing 5th and 9th on two separate Fast Eddie’s stops, he didn’t show up again until 2011, when his only recorded winnings came from a 5th place tie (with David Gutierrez) in the Houston Open. His attendance from that point has been consistent, up to and including his best earnings year to date – 2016 – when (among other appearances) he won the 3rd Junior Norris 9-Ball Shootout in Wichita Falls, defeating Alex Olinger in the finals. Rudder won a stop on the Lone Star Billiard Tour last year and finished as runner-up to Manny Chau in two other stops on the tour.

 

On the weekend of June 23-24, Rudder returned to the tournament winners’ circle for the first time in 2018, doing it the hard way. He won an opening match (against Jennifer Hooten) at the 6th stop on the Predator DFW 9-Ball Tour and was sent to the loss side in his next round by Suliman Abu Salem. Rudder then embarked on a 10-match, loss-side winning streak, and capped it by double dipping hot seat occupant Greg Sandifer in the finals to claim his first event title since early October of last year. The $1,700-added event drew 86 entrants to Click’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.

 

With Rudder on the loss side, working his way back, Sandifer and Steve Raynes advanced to the hot seat match. Sandifer had defeated Donnie Gregory 8-3 to get there in one of the winners’ side semifinals, while Raynes sent Joshua Keller over 7-5 in the other one. Sandifer claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Raynes and waited for Rudder to complete his loss-side run.

 

On the loss side, Rudder (racing to 9) was allowing his opponents an average of about four racks. TJ Davis, battling him in the first money round, was the only player to force a double hill deciding game against him, although Tony Top, two rounds before that, had managed seven. Rudder chalked up loss-side wins #6 and #7 against Aram Hasan (9-4) and Sean Black (9-5) to draw Keller. Gregory, in the meantime, picked up Douglas Pitts, who’d defeated Alberto Nieto Garcia and (denying Rudder any chance at a re-match) Suliman Abu Salem, both double hill.

 

Gregory eliminated Pitts 7-4, and in the quarterfinals, faced Rudder, who’d defeated Keller 9-2. Rudder moved on to down Gregory in those quarterfinals 9-6, and then, Raynes in the semifinals 9-2.

 

Over 22 games in the true double elimination finals, Rudder gave up only four to Sandifer. He took the opening set 9-3, and then, tightened the screws to allow Sandifer only a single rack in the second and deciding set. It had taken Sandifer seven matches to advance to the hot seat. It took Rudder 12 matches to meet him in the finals;  a single win and a loss on the winners’ side and 10 on the loss side. Rudder played two more matches, for a total of 14, and when they were over, Rudder had claimed his first 2018 title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Click’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, JB Cases, Dallas Eight-Ball League, Outsville (Accu-Rack), Granite Guyz, BCAPL/CSI and Internet Marketing Solutions. The next stop on the Predator DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for July 14-15, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by The Hideaway in Dallas, TX.