Latest Link: Hartland Pro Bowler Wins Player of the Year Award

Hartland resident Mika Koivuniemi has won the PBA player of the year after a spectacular season in which he won the tour's largest cash prize ever and became the first to reach the TV finals of the four major tournaments, according to an article Professional Bowlers Association website.

Koivuniemi, who also was player of the year in 2003-04, earned $250,000 for winning  PBA Tournament of Champions, the May 5 article said. The Finnish native also finished second in the U.S. Open, third in the Bayer USBC Masters and sixth in the PBA World Championship, it said. A big disappointment came when he lost the U.S. Open title in the 10th frame after he missed a 10 pin.

“It’s really a great honor,” said Koivuniemi, 44, in the article about winning the award. “There are only 10 players who had won player of the year more than once, and to be the 11th member of that group is really special.

“It was an almost perfect season for me,” he added. “Qualifying for TV for all four majors is a huge deal. No one had ever done that before, and to win the Tournament of Champions? That’s the one everyone wanted.”