The Orange superstar defeated top seed EJ Tackett to claim his fourth career Tournament of Champions title - surpassing Mike Durbin and Jason Couch for the most ever - and the 15th major championship of his career.

The 39-year-old prevailed in six consecutive matches on TV, defeating three former Players of the Year, two hungry veterans pursuing their first major title and the most accomplished under-26 player of all time.

"This will be one that I will remember," Belmonte said.

"At any other event moving forward where I have a slow start, I can call on this event as a reminder: Wherever you are on the leaderboard, that doesn't matter anymore.

"Now it's all about how are you going to make a shot? Just you. Don't worry about everyone else. How are you going to make the shot? And if I do that, no matter how low (in the standings), if I make enough good ones, I can make a run back."

Belmonte sat in 58th after the tournament's first round and crept up to 51st after the second. With six games left of qualifying, the two-handed sensation sat 154 pins outside of the cut.

Over the final round of qualifying and three rounds of match play, Belmonte steadily rose up the leaderboard. By tournament's end, the trophy belonged to him.

Belmonte threw urethane on the very first shot of the afternoon, which resulted in a 4-10 split. He said the 40-foot Don Johnson oil pattern broke down quickly during the few minutes between practice and competition.

"As soon as I saw that (split), I'm like 'you're going to have to start fishing and it's not going to be pretty,'" Belmonte said.

Belmonte switched to reactive equipment the next frame. He never looked back, rattling off wins against Jason Sterner and Matt Ogle.

Those wins ensured the podium of the 2023 TOC would be Belmonte, Anthony Simonsen and EJ Tackett. Norm Duke, calling the tournament in the broadcast booth, described the trio as the world's three best players.

"You'd have to go back a long way to find a major championship show without one of us on the show," Belmonte said.

Four years after Belmonte defeated Tackett to win his record-tying 10th career major, Belmonte won No. 15 on the very same pair of lanes.

"You walk into (Riviera) and you get that 'Field of Dreams' feeling," Belmonte said. "You just gotta close your eyes for a second and think about who's walked through those doors and take that in.

"I don't know how I can truly describe how proud of myself I am and how excited I am."

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