The Most Expensive 2 Seconds In Bowling History

Don Johnson’s final shot left one ten pin standing—and a $10,000 bonus unpaid. His famous 299 opens a bigger story about what bowling pays for perfection.

At the 1970 Firestone Tournament of Champions, Johnson had already secured the title when he stepped up for his twelfth ball. One more strike would add $10,000 and a Mercury Cougar to his winnings. Instead, the ten pin stayed up. The champion went face down on the approach, and a game he won became remembered for the bonus he missed.

Three years earlier, Jack Biondolillo had collected $10,000 for the first live nationally televised PBA 300. By 2019, the PBA was advertising a million—but only for a perfect game in the title match of four selected events. Its own announcement showed how restrictive that offer was: of 26 televised perfect games, only two had come in title matches, and neither in a major. Tommy Jones delivered another title-match 300 in 2020, but the Hall of Fame Classic wasn’t one of the million-dollar events. His perfect-game bonus was $10,000.

Then Brandon Bonta began his professional PBA Tour career with a 300 in the 2026 Players Championship final. The rookie earned $100,000 for the title and another $10,000 for perfection—the same nominal bonus Johnson had missed 56 years earlier. From Riviera Lanes to the million-dollar promotion, the record reveals why throwing twelve strikes and collecting the biggest advertised prize were two different challenges.