THE AVENGERS star JEREMY RENNER had to give up his first love for bowling in his teens because he became obsessed with beating his best scores.

The actor’s father ran a ten-pin bowling alley in Modesto, California when Renner was a child and young Jeremy became a semi-pro after summers spent perfecting his game.

He says, “I started bowling when I was three and I had a 225 average at the age of 12. I toured a lot as a semi-pro and bowled against grown-a** people. Out of 500 competitors, I would take 17th place. I was very competitive.”

But he tells Playboy he turned his back on the sport when it stopped being fun, adding, “In bowling, you have to beat your own score… (and) if I didn’t get 225 or break 200, I couldn’t deal with it.

“I always joke that the game put me in therapy. It didn’t really, but it was something I had to pull away from because I was not enjoying it anymore.”