Voters give nod to AOY to win FLW Championship

Greg Hackney hands-down winner of Virtual Championship 2005

Greg Hackney caught 16 pounds, 15 ounces in Saturday’s finals – the day’s biggest sack – and finished the tournament in fourth place. Photo by Jeff Schroeder. Angler: Greg Hackney.

July 14, 2005 • Patrick Baker • Archives

He entered the Forrest L. Wood Championship the No. 1 seed, and he’ll leave it that way, too, if FLWOutdoors.com visitors’ instincts are on the money.

Gonzales, La., pro Greg Hackney is already having a banner year on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, having earned the 2005 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title after being the runner-up in last year’s AOY race. He also finished the regular season in commanding fashion, posting back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the two FLW Tour events immediately preceding the championship.

To say Hackney is on a tear may be an understatement. And FLWOutdoors.com visitors have taken notice.

Of the hundreds of ballots that were cast in the finals of Virtual Championship 2005, Hackney was the undisputed favorite, garnering 34 percent of all votes and nearly twice as many votes as the runner-up, Prosperity, S.C., pro Anthony Gagliardi.

Whether Hackney can ride this tremendous wave of momentum – including a sweeping vote of confidence from fishing fans nationwide – into the $500,000 winner’s circle of the actual championship remains to be seen. But as of this posting, the bayou-born pro was off to a decent start. Hackney only managed to boat four bass on the opening day of competition for a weight of 4 pounds, 7 ounces, but he was still 2 pounds and 12 ounces ahead of his opening-round bracket foe, Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla. If Hackney maintains his lead Thursday and beats Newby to advance to the semifinals, he will have his work cut out for him. Hackney would face either Bee Branch, Ark., native and bass-fishing legend Larry Nixon or rookie phenomenon Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., both of whom actually outfished Hackney on day one by 4-9 and 1-3, respectively.

Online fishing fans aren’t the only ones rooting for Hackney. Before the Forrest L. Wood Championship began, a group of bass-fishing pundits – comprising FLW Outdoors writers and bass pros – staked their prognosticating reputations on the Angler of the Year. Of six pundits weighing in, four picked Hackney to finish at least in the top five at the championship.

Hackney knows what it is like to compete at the highest level known to this professional sport; he is fishing in his fourth-straight FLW Championship this year, and he’s never finished worse than 16th. He’s earned almost $380,000 in FLW Outdoors events in his career, and if his legions of fans are right about his chances this week, he’ll more than double that sum.

The “Hack Attack” is arguably the hottest angler in the world right now, with 22 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events alone, including a total of four top-10 FLW Tour appearances. And the man has been a standout in BASS events as well. Now he can add one more milestone to his already-astounding career: winner of Virtual Championship 2005 at FLWOutdoors.com.

Breakdown of 12 virtual championship finalists

These polls have been for entertainment only and have no bearing on the actual FLW Tour Championship competition. Click here to view the final Virtual Championship 2005 bracket.

1. Greg Hackney

2. Anthony Gagliardi

3. George Cochran

4. Toshinari Namiki

5. Dave Lefebre

6. Kelly Jordon

7. J.T. Kenney

8. Alton Jones

9. Dean Rojas

10. Gary Yamamoto

11. Steve Kennedy

12. Greg Pugh