Michael Todd Fagan (born November 4, 1980) is an American former professional bowler on the

PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for tenpin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Reg ...

. He has also participated in World Bowling Tour (WBT) and European Bowling Tour (EBT) events, and as a member of Team USA in international competitions. Known for his high backswing, he was given the nickname "King of Swing". He has a high RPM rate, but also has a smooth release, so his style can be classified as either a cranker or a power stroker.

PBA career

Fagan began his PBA career in the 200203 season, and owns five PBA Tour titles, including two majors. He captured his first PBA title in his 108th career event, winning the PBA Exempt Doubles Classic with partner Danny Wiseman in the 200708 season. He earned his first singles title at the 2010 One-a-Day Dick Weber Open, defeating all-time titles leader Walter Ray Williams, Jr. in the final match. Having lost to

Chris Barnes Chris Barnes may refer to: * Chris Barnes (actor) (born 1965), American child actor *Chris Barnes (bowler) Chris Barnes (born February 25, 1970) is an American professional Ten-pin bowling, bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Associat ...

in his first TV appearance at the semifinals of the 2003 Empire State Open in

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, Fagan won against Barnes in the 2012

USBC Masters The USBC Masters is a championship ten-pin bowling event conducted by the United States Bowling Congress. The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) began recognizing it as a title event in 1998, and it was designated one of the four majors in 2000 ...

, overcoming a 30-pin deficit after five frames to win his third title and first major championship. Fagan narrowly missed winning a second consecutive major in that season's U.S. Open, when Pete Weber rolled a strike on his final ball of the tenth frame to defeat Fagan by a single pin, 215–214. His next victory came at the 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge, a World Bowling Tour event, where he was credited with his fourth PBA Title. Marking his first (and so far only) season with multiple titles, Fagan won a career-high $116,950 in 201112. Fagan won his fifth career title and second major at the

PBA World Championship The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Ten-pin bowling, bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open (bowling), U.S. Open and USBC Masters ...

on January 11, 2015, defeating

Wes Malott Wesley Clint "Big Nasty" Malott (born October 26, 1976) is an American professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Originally from Pflugerville, Texas, he now resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has won ...

in the final match, 252–212.

PBA Tour titles

Major championships are in bold text. # 2008 PBA Exempt Doubles Classic w/Danny Wiseman (

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

) # 2010 One-A-Day Dick Weber Open (

Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Indigenous The Indigenous people of the Fountain Valley area are the Tongva. The closest ...

) # 2012 Alka-Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels USBC Masters (

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

) # 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge (

Sainte-Maxime Sainte-Maxime (; Occitan language, Occitan and Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Santa Maxima'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) # 2015 PBA World Championship (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Other career highlights

* Prior to 2012, Fagan's best finish at a major was third place at the 2006 U.S. Open. He defeated 2000 U.S. Open champion Robert Smith, 216–214, in the first match of the finals (his first career televised victory) before losing to eventual champion Tommy Jones. * Had a career-high four perfect 300 games during the 2007–08 season, tied for second on Tour. Through the 2016 season, he had accumulated 21 perfect games in PBA events. * His career PBA Tour earnings are over $892,000 (through 2016). He also owns two PBA Regional titles. * Was the victim of Liz Johnson in the finals of the 2005 East Region Kingpin Lanes tournament, the first PBA tournament ever won by a female bowler. * Lost with an 8-pin count to Jack Jurek's strike in a sudden death rolloff after tying the game at 218 in the 2009 Shark Championship, giving Jurek his first title in 14 years. * Has won five European Bowling Tour (EBT) titles as of April 30, 2012. * He is a five-time member of Team USA (2010–11, 2013–15) Note Emily is listed as "Emily Maier" * Fagan has also served as PBA Player Committee Chairman and was on the USBC Board of Directors.

Personal life

Originally from

Patchogue, New York Patchogue ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 12,408 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Patchogue is an incorporated community in the Town (New ...

, Fagan now resides in

with his wife, Emily, who bowled collegiately for

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

and also for Team USA 2010. The two were married in 2013. Mike, who got his undergraduate degree in Finance at St. John's University, announced during the 2015 season that he would be reducing his appearances on the PBA Tour to pursue his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He only entered three PBA Tour events in the 2016 season and did not make an appearance in the 2017 season. By 2020, he had become Director of Business Development for a company that owns bowling centers in Minnesota.

References

External links

Official website
(archived)
Mike Fagan
at the

Professional Bowlers Association The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and currently owned by the Lucky Strike Entertainment Corpor ...

archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagan, Michael 1980 births Living people American ten-pin bowling players People from Patchogue, New York Sportspeople from Brookhaven, New York Sportspeople from Westbury, New York World Games gold medalists for the United States World Games medalists in bowling Medalists at the 2013 World Games