Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 5

Today’s matchup: Koby Kreiger, Lendell Martin Jr., Robert Karbas Jr. and Kelly Jordon

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 – Koby Kreiger, Lendell Martin Jr., Robert Karbas Jr. and Kelly Jordon

Koby Kreiger – No. 6 seed: With FLW Outdoors earnings topping $400,000, Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., has been a wrecking ball on the EverStart Series, where he has scored 16 top-10 finishes, including three wins, since 1998. He has also made quite a name for himself on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour with four top-10s and three championship appearances since joining the tour in 1997. Kreiger is coming off his best FLW Tour season to date, and is determined to add the Forrest L. Wood Championship title to his impressive list of accomplishments. To do so, however, he will have to get by Lendell Martin Jr. of Bassmaster Tour fame.

Lendell Martin Jr. – No. 43 seed: Lendell Martin Jr. of Nacogdoches, Texas, is a seasoned pro who is best known for his accomplishments on the Bassmaster Tour, where he has earned 11 top-10 finishes and qualified for the Bassmaster Classic five times. This will be his first Forrest L. Wood Championship appearance and thus his first shot at winning $500,000 cash. You can bet he intends to make the most of his opportunity. Martin hit the EverStart Series in 2003 to qualify for the FLW Tour and scored two top-10s that season. In 2004, he earned another EverStart Series top 10 and this year he finished eighth at the FLW Tour stop on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake. He is a solid performer when the chips are down, and with $500,000 on the line in Hot Springs, the chips are down.

Robert Karbas Jr. – No. 19 seed: Robert Karbas Jr. of Wake Forest, N.C., flew under the radar for most of the season and quietly qualified for the Forrest L. Wood Championship with a string of consistent performances – never finishing higher than 31st nor lower than 74th – that allowed him to pocket more than $40,000. He is guaranteed another $15,000 for qualifying for the championship, and his low-key approach may be just what it takes to slip by high-flying Kelly Jordon, who scored two top-five finishes this season. Karbas has fished the FLW Tour since 2001, and this is by far his best season. It’s also his first championship appearance.

Kelly Jordon – No. 30 seed: Based on his win at the season opener on Lake Okeechobee in January and a 13th-place showing at the tour’s second stop, on Lake Toho, in February, 2005 appeared to be the year of Kelly Jordon. The Mineola, Texas, pro stumbled at the next two stops, however, finishing 164th and 173rd, respectively, on the Ouachita River and Beaver Lake, putting his championship aspirations in doubt. Then at tour stop No. 5, on Wheeler, he jumped back to the top of the leaderboard before settling for a third-place finish. The Potomac River was another solid performance for Jordon, and this 30th-place finish there earned him a trip to the Forrest L. Wood Championship as the No. 30 seed, which coincidentally is where he finished in his last championship appearance – 30th in 2003 on the James River. If he can keep the momentum going through the preliminary rounds, Jordon stands a good shot at winning the biggest payday of his career.

Poll results

Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 4

Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 3

Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 2

Virtual Championship 2005: Bracket 1