Stanley snags top spot among FLW Tour sponsor teams
Longstanding leader Team Snickers falls a slot in year-to-date standings; Team Hellmann’s dramatically outshines other teams at Kentucky Lake
Team Stanley was able to break up Team Snickers’ monopoly on the No. 1 slot among the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s sponsor teams after the Kentucky Lake event held May 14-17. Snickers had a season-long stranglehold on the top position until Stanley was able to finish nine points ahead of the former leader in the Bluegrass State. But with only one more regular-season tournament to go in the 2003 season, the question becomes: Who will have the last laugh? Can Stanley snicker all the way to a first-place season finale?
Going into the final regular-season tournament, Team Stanley will carry a 7.75-point lead over No. 2 Snickers in the overall sponsor-team standings. Third-place Team Fujifilm trails Snickers by a dozen points, while fourth-place Team Kellogg’s is only 4.5 points behind the No. 3 slot.
Though Team Hellmann’s only jumped up one slot to seventh place in the overall standings, it showed its mettle on Kentucky Lake, outdistancing the nearest team – Kellogg’s – by 38 points. Kellogg’s and Fujifilm – having placed second and third, respectively – also had impressive showings at Kentucky Lake, helping to advance each team two places in the overall standings.
Points in the 2003 sponsor-team race will be earned during the FLW Tour’s six qualifying events and monitored throughout the season.
Anglers representing sponsor teams will mix it up with the rest of the pro field during the next FLW Tour event, the June 18-21 Forrest Wood Open on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake.
Current overall standings include results from the first five FLW Tour events that have taken place so far this season. Sponsor-team standings are based on the average number of points earned by the anglers fishing for any given team as assigned in the FLW Tour’s Angler of the Year competition:
1. Stanley – 642.25 points
2. Snickers – 634.5
3. Fujifilm – 622.5
4. Kellogg’s – 618
5. Lawry’s – 613
6. Castrol – 597.75
7. Hellmann’s – 597
8. Banana Boat – 551
9. 7 Up – 508.67
10. Land O’Lakes – 496.75
11. Skippy – 469
12. Lipton Sides – 208
Each of the dozen sponsor teams competed in the Kentucky Lake tournament, and results from that event have been tallied:
1. Hellmann’s
2. Kellogg’s
3. Fujifilm
4. Lawry’s
5. Land O’Lakes
6. Skippy
7. Castrol
8. 7 Up
9. Stanley
10. Banana Boat
11. Snickers
12. Lipton Sides
Standout performances from the last tournament among anglers on sponsored teams include Team Hellmann’s angler Jeffrey Thomas of Broadway, N.C., who netted a fifth-place finish; Team Land O’Lakes angler Keith Williams of Conway, Ark., who earned an 11th-place finish; and Team Kellogg’s anglers Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, who garnered a 13th-place finish, and Clark Wendlandt of Cedar Park, Texas, who earned a 15th-place finish.
Links:
“Snickers still top sponsor team on FLW Tour”
“Snickers stays ahead of sponsor-team pack on FLW Tour”
“Snickers on top of FLW Tour sponsor teams”
“FLW Tour Fujifilm pros finish atop 2002 year-end team standings”