Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 10
Today’s matchup: Matt Herren, Tom Monsoor, Alton Jones and Alvin Shaw
With the 2005 FLW Tour Championship quickly approaching, FLWOutdoors.com once again will be hosting our own version of the “virtual championship” – a featured daily poll where readers can make their own picks and weigh in on exactly who they think will be crowned champion during the July 13-16 year-ending event in Hot Springs, Ark. In the final days before the championship, FLWOutdoors.com will be asking readers to vote each day on who they think will advance in each of the daily bracket challenges.
Polls are located in the lower right-hand corner of FLWOutdoors.com’s home page and in the same area of the FLW Tour page. After each day’s votes are tabulated, the virtual championship bracket will be immediately updated to reflect the readers’ choices. Full details of Virtual Championship 2005 are provided underneath that bracket layout.
Today’s featured four-man bracket matchup – Matt Herren, Tom Monsoor, Alton Jones and Alvin Shaw
Matt Herren – No. 4 seed: Herren’s FLW Tour report cards from the three years he has fished the tour read just the way an instructor would like: showing steady improvement. In his first year on tour, the Titusville, Ala., pro turned more than a few heads by finishing the season ranked 11th; by the end of the 2004 season, he occupied the No. 9 slot; and he will enter the 2005 FLW Tour Championship on Lake Hamilton as the No. 4 seed. In his first championship, Herren placed 25th; last year he improved by a place to finish 24th. He must also be considered one of the most consistent pros on tour: He has always finished in the upper half of the 200-angler pro field in three years’ worth of FLW Tour competition, contributing significantly to his $186,000 total career earnings in FLW Outdoors events. Herren, who has collected 13 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events, was an eight-year veteran of the BFL Bama Division before moving up to the big leagues. Having earned his first FLW top-10 this year at the Ouachita River (second place) and coming off an impressive 13th-place finish at the last event of the regular season, Herren seems to have done his homework in preparation for this year’s final test in Hot Springs, Ark.
Tom Monsoor – No. 45 seed: Monsoor is a master of the Mississippi River and a Northern bass specialist, as evidenced by myriad top10-finishes and wins in BFL Great Lakes Division and EverStart Series Northern Division events. Upon further inspection of this La Crosse, Wis., pro’s stats, however, one begins to see that he’s a threat just about anywhere bass swim. He’s hit the top five on the FLW Tour in Louisiana, Arkansas and Kentucky. With an astonishing 27 top-10 finishes, including six wins, and $245,000 in career earnings over the last nine seasons with FLW Outdoors, it’s hard to believe Monsoor will fish his first FLW Tour Championship this year. Averaging three top-10s a season, Monsoor is way behind his own numbers in 2005 with zero so far, so he’s overdue for a big finish.
Alton Jones – No. 21 seed: Jones registered his fourth FLW top-10 this year in his sixth season on tour with a stellar third-place finish at Beaver Lake. With $205,000 in FLW career earnings already tucked under his belt, Jones will be making his fourth FLW Tour Championship appearance in 2005. The only two years he didn’t qualify for the championship were the two he didn’t fish the full slate of regular-season events. With nine Bassmaster Classic events on his resume as well, Jones has a long history of fishing in high-pressure, high-stakes situations, so look for the Waco, Texas, pro to do well on Lake Hamilton.
Alvin Shaw – No. 28 seed: Shaw has the corner on the championship market in this bracket grouping. The State Road, N.C., pro has fished the FLW Tour since its inception a decade ago, and he qualified for the championship every year but one. In his seasoned career with FLW Outdoors, Shaw has amassed an impressive $377,000 in event earnings as well as 11 top-10 finishes. And 2005 is shaping up to be his best year on tour to date; Shaw tied an FLW Tour record this year by hitting the top-10 at three consecutive tournaments, including his first tour win on Wheeler Lake. It should be noted that Shaw earned eight of his 11 top-10s at the tour level. You can bet that Shaw is aiming to pick up a second career win when the championship gets under way in Hot Springs, Ark.
Poll results
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 9
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 8
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 7
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 6
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 5
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 4
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 3
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 2
Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 1
Welcome to the 2005 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship