O'Neill was named PBA Rookie of the Year in his first full PBA season (2005-06), after making the Round of 32 match play 11 times in 18 tournaments and appearing once in the TV finals.[3]
Despite not winning a tournament, O'Neill had an excellent season in 2008-09. He qualified for match play in a career-high 18 of 20 tournaments, made the TV finals seven times, and narrowly missed winning the PBA's George Young High Average Award (222.96 to Wes Malott's 222.98).
After 83 tournaments and 11 previous TV finals appearances without winning, O'Neill finally earned his elusive first PBA Tour title in the PBA Chameleon Championship on September 6, 2009, defeating Ronnie Russell in the final match by a score of 205-192.[4]
O'Neill earned his second PBA Tour title and first major title at the 2009-10 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open. After qualifying as the #2 seed, he defeated Tommy Jones in the semifinal match, 203-152. He started slowly in the championship match against #1 seed and defending champ Mike Scroggins, converting a spare then leaving an open frame. But he then rolled the final 10 strikes of the game, for a 267-207 victory.[5]
He finished the 2009-10 season tied with Walter Ray Williams, Jr. and Mike Scroggins in PBA Player of the Year points, but the honor went to Williams in an overall competition points tie-breaker.[6]
At the 2010 PBA World Series of Bowling, O'Neill had the highest 60-game qualifying scores among all bowlers. This earned him the #1 seed for the 2010-11 PBA World Championship, which took place January 14-16, 2011.[7] But he was defeated in the final match at that event by Chris Barnes, 267-237. At the World Series, Bill also won the Pepsi Viper Championshipfor his third PBA Tour title.[8]
Through 2009-10, O'Neill has thrown 14 perfect 300 games in PBA competition. He has cashed almost $400,000 in PBA Tour earnings.
