Johnson, Donald
Bowling
b. May 19, 1940, Kokomo, IN
The bowler of the year in 1971 and 1972, Johnson began bowling when he was fifteen and joined the PBA tour when he was twenty-two. He won at least one tournament for twelve consecutive years, from 1964 through 1975, a PBA record.
Nicknamed the "Kokomo Kid" by bowling writers, Johnson had a herky-jerky motion, yet he rolled 16 sanctioned perfect games and won more than 30 championships, including ABC doubles and team events. He won the BPAA U. S. Open in 1972, when he was the tour's leading money winner with $56,648. Johnson led the tour in average pins with 213.98 in 1971 and 215.29 in 1972. He won the 1970 Tournament of Champions with a 299 in the final game.
Johnson teamed with Bill Tucker in 1968 and with Paul Colwell in 1976 to win ABC classic doubles titles, and he was a member of the Columbia 300 team that won the 1977 team championship.