NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The first televised finals of Shannon Buchan's PBA career are a mere step away after the Waterloo bowler surged into third place with a strong effort Friday at the 65th annual Denny's U.S. Open.

Entering the day fifth out of 24 bowlers to make the match play round, Buchan went 5-3 in head-to-head matches to move into third with a point total of 7,600 and a tournament average of 212.86. The only bowlers ahead of him, Norm Duke and Mika Koivuniemi, own a combined 35 PBA titles.

After opening match play with a rough start against 2006 Open champion Tommy Jones, Buchan picked up steam throughout the day, finishing with four straight wins over Tom Baker, Brian Valenta, John Nolen and Jason Belmonte.

After two grueling, eight-match rounds today on what the PBA promotes as the toughest oil pattern in all of bowling, the top four bowlers will advance to Sunday's stepladder finals, which will be televised live on ESPN at 1 p.m.

Each of the bowlers in the match play round plays each other once, meaning Buchan faces head-to-head matches today with both Koivuniemi and Duke, who went a respective 7-1 and 8-0 Friday.

Buchan's history of success at the U.S. Open includes finishes of ninth place in 2004, 12th place in 2005 and 11th place in 2006.

STANDINGS - 1. Norm Duke (Clermont, Fla.) 8-0-0, 7,749; 2. Mika Koivuniemi (Hartland, Mich.) 7-1-0, 7,687; 3. Shannon Buchan (Waterloo) 5-3-0, 7,600; 4. Euguene McCune (Munster, Ind.) 4-3-1, 7,586; 5. Brad Angelo (Lockport, N.Y.) 5-3-0, 7,577; 6. Wes Malott (Argyle, Tex.) 4-4-0, 7,548; 7. Chris Loschetter (Avon, Ohio) 5-3-0, 7,526; 8. Doug Kent (Newark, N.Y.) 5-3-0, 7,526;

9. Bill O'Neill (Levittown, Pa.) 5-3-0, 7,504; 10. Tommy Jones (Simpsonville, S.C.) 5-3-0, 7,466; 11. Mike Rose, Jr. (Rochester, N.Y.) 5-3-0, 7,445; 12. Parker Bohn III (Jackson, N.J.) 3-5-0, 7.419; 13. Brian Valenta (Lockport, Ill.) 4-4-0, 7.418; 14. Ryan Shafer (Horseheads, N.Y.) 5-3-0, 7,381; 15. David O'Sullivan (Orlando, Fla.) 1-7-0, 7,379; 16. Jason Belmonte (Orange, NSW, Aus.) 4-4-0, 7,363;

17. Mike Wolfe (New Albany, Ind.) 3-5-0, 7,337; 18. Jeff Lizzi (Sandusky, Ohio) 4-4-0, 7,327; 19. Mike Edwards (Tulsa, Okla.) 2-5-1, 7,312; 20. Todd Book (Cantonment, Fla.) 2-6-0, 7,307; 21. Tom Baker (King, N.C.) 3-5-0, 7,302; 22. Mark Clark (Naperville, Ill.) 3-5-0, 7,290; 23. Mike Scroggins (Amarillo, Tex.) 1-7-0, 7,224; 24. John Nolen (Waterford, Mich.) 2-6-0, 7,201.