Virtual Championship 2006: Semifinals
Semifinal round – Nixon vs. Kilby
Virtual Championship 2006
Semifinal round – Nixon vs. Kilby
You’ve chosen the semifinalists, and now the head-to-head matchups are getting even more interesting, reflecting both the public’s prognostication and will. Only the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship remains on the tour-level bass-fishing horizon before 2006 is etched forever in the history books. Will voters correctly forecast the FLW Tour champion? Learn more about qualifying pros while casting your daily ballot.
FLWOutdoors.com is once again hosting its own “virtual championship” – a featured daily poll where readers can make their own picks and weigh in on who they think will be crowned champion during the Aug. 2-5 year-ending event on Logan Martin Lake in Birmingham, Ala.
In the days leading up to the championship, FLWOutdoors.com is asking readers to vote on who they think will advance in each of the daily bracket challenges (polls are located on the right-hand side of the FLW Outdoors and FLW Tour home pages). After each day’s votes are tabulated, the virtual championship bracket will be immediately updated to reflect the readers’ choices.
Revisit Virtual Championship 2006 daily and be a part of the voting body that could be the first to correctly anticipate the championship winner. Vote each day to support your favorite qualified angler and to learn more about the 48 pros who will actually compete on Logan Martin Lake for a top prize of $500,000.
Today’s featured bracket matchup: Larry Nixon (No. 8) vs. Rob Kilby (No. 32)
Larry Nixon – No. 8 seed: A nine-year tour veteran out of Arkansas, Nixon has baits in his tackle box older than some of the sport’s young hotshots against whom he fishes on a daily basis. One of the true pioneers of tournament bass fishing, he is threat to win anywhere, anytime, as evidenced by his two FLW Tour victories, eight top-10 finishes and more than $640,000 in FLW Outdoors career earnings. Nixon consistently vies for the tour standings title and is accepting his eighth bid to the FLW Tour Championship, having missed the big show only once, in 2004, during his illustrious FLW Tour career. This season unfolded in a typically Nixonian fashion for him; he earned checks in five out of six events and never finished worse than 81st place. While he didn’t make any cuts out of the opening round this season, his season-best showing of 16th place, at Lake Okeechobee, and consistent finishes in the top 60 easily earned him his championship berth as the No. 8 seed. In fact, Nixon caught a limit every day he fished in FLW Tour competition this year except two, and those were at a stingy Pickwick Lake where he earned a check nevertheless.
Rob Kilby – No. 32 seed: Rob Kilby qualified for the championship during his first full year of competing on the FLW Tour nearly a decade ago, and Kilby is certainly no rookie. Kilby has been on a roll since that 1997 appearance, qualifying for the FLW Tour Championship seven of the last eight years, and he has competed in eight Bassmaster Classics out of 11 years on tour with BASS. The pro from Hot Springs, Ark., has six top-10 finishes on the FLW Tour since 1998, and his FLW earnings are rapidly approaching the half-million-dollar mark. The 25-year pro has an abundance of experience on tap and the tools to get the job done.
Virtual Championship 2006 (click for complete details and poll results)
Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship 2006 (click for more information)
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