I guess I'm out of the bowling loop as I have never seen these so called big money events with all the hacks. Every decent tournament I've ever seen the quality of the field is at least on caliber with a PBA regional, if not better.
The advantage of the PBA Tour is they are bowling for more than just their own money. Amateur events almost never pay out more than is taken in, have to pay lineage, and if there is sponsor money hopefully it will cover the tournament organizer's take out.