Moore Wins in Florida Billiards

Moore Wins in Florida Billiardsby Rick DavisDay two action at the Florida Pro tour began with uncharacteristic mistakes for many while others were near shutouts. Robb Saez had a rough time all day beginning with a loss to Steve Moore. Moore three-fouled Saez once to go along with his own scratches leading to a missed eight ball that allowed Moore to coast away from the hill to win 8-5. Also on the winners’ side, Canadian Jason Klatt continued to surprise everyone with his top level of play as he reached the top four on the winners’ side before falling to Moore.
Tour regular Butch Croft and returning player Will Billbrey rounded out the winners’ side top four sending fresh meat to the dwindling one-loss side. Early on the one-loss side Donnie Mills squeaked past Ron Wiseman double-hill only to fall to Saez soon after while Earl Strickland eliminated John DiToro before getting the axe himself from the hand of Dave Grossman.The one-loss side top four featured Robb Saez versus Croft along with Grossman versus Klatt and this was the whitewash round for the evening. Klatt took a 3-1 lead before scratching on the ten, giving Grossman a game. After that Grossman got to know his chair very well as Klatt didn’t loose another rack to win the match 8-1. Nearby Croft took an early 2-0 lead only to watch Saez even things up although just like their neighboring table Croft played strong, giving away only one more rack to win the match 8-3. More scratches by Saez and a few unlucky rolls quickly spelled doom for the defending player of the year. Fighting for the hot seat, Moore faced Billbrey in an evenly matched game early on as neither could gain more than a one-rack lead. Billbrey noted, “I started playing a few months ago after a five year break. I’m lucky to be this far, I played bad but the people I faced played worse. I got a good draw although I had nerves from not being in the mix.”Fighting to stay alive were Croft and Klatt on the one-loss, and both had signs of fatigue as safeties came up short and basic shots were missed. Before the match the calm and collected 20-year old Klatt commented, “The people I played, I thought I should have won, that last match was my only tough one. I’m still young it’s just experience…just playing more tournaments to develop it.” Meeting the youngster Klatt, Croft managed to fight back from an early deficit to tie things at 3-all but Klatt surged ahead taking the match 8-4.In the semi-finals Moore had no mercy on Klatt who looked defeated as he surveyed the table. Moore took an early 5-1 lead and even though Klatt came back to 7-6 the superior play by Moore and the early deficit were too much to overcome as Moore advanced 8-6. The finals were a rematch for Moore who wanted to take revenge on Billbrey although Billbrey’s opening two pack and safeties brought an early 4-0 score. Moore staged a comeback from several safety battles to bring the score to 4-all then 5-all. More safety play unfolded along with a pair of break and runs to give Billbrey the lead at 8-5 although mistakes brought Moore back to 8-8 very quickly. In the double-hill game Moore broke and never looked twice as he ran the rack with surgical precision for the huge comeback win 9-8. Results:1st $3500 Steve Moore2nd $2000 Will Billbrey3rd $1600 Jason Klatt4th $1200 Butch Croft

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