Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, added to his incredible fishing resume by winning his third Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year title Saturday at the FLW Tour’s final 2016 regular-season event on Lake Champlain.
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This is the third FLW Tour Angler of the Year win for Morgan, a 21-year veteran of the Tour who is often called “The GOAT” by his fellow competitors – an acronym meaning “The Greatest of All Time”. Morgan’s first angler of the year title came in 2013, when he posted top-20 finishes in five of the six regular season tournaments. He successfully defended the title in 2014, completing the most successful season in FLW history and earning his second-straight title.
Morgan now joins Walmart pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, and Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, as the FLW Tour’s only three-time angler of the year winners. Wendlandt earned his titles in 1997, 2000 and 2009; Dudley earned his in 2008, 2011 and 2012.
“My first two tournaments were not that great,” said Morgan, who has amassed more than $1.9 million in career winnings and 62 top-10 finishes in FLW competition. “I got checks, and I was proud of that. But to win AOY it wasn’t the kind of checks you need to get. The last four tournaments I put it together, and it just worked out well. It was a blessing to do well.”
Morgan, 44, earned the title with 1,084 out of a possible 1,200 points after successfully fending off multiple “young guns” on the FLW Tour, including 2016 Rookie of the Year Chris Johnston of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, (1060), fellow Livingston Lures pro Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Arkansas, (1060), Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis, Indiana, (1058), and Jeff Gustafson of Keewatin, Ontario, Canada, (1045).
“I’ve always said it just takes a good rain coat and some sunscreen to get out here and compete. That kind of grinding, and that kind of mentality that you’re not going to beat me is what it takes,” Morgan said. “You have to learn to work. You learn to get up early and put in whatever it takes to compete and stay competitive. I’m 44 years old. You can see the gray in my beard. But I still know how to work. It’s all about the hustle.”
Along with the Angler of the Year title, which annually goes to the Tour’s most dominant bass angler, Morgan earned the top prize of $100,000 and became the first angler to punch his ticket to the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup next fall.
Morgan has fished as a professional on the Walmart FLW Tour since the Tour’s inception in 1996. He immediately made his mark, posting three top-10 finishes in the inaugural season. Over the past 10 seasons, Morgan has finished no lower than 18th place in the end of the year standings, an impressive feat when you consider most FLW Tour tournaments feature more than 160 anglers competing.
This year Morgan started the FLW Tour season off with a 40th-place effort on Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Florida. He then posted a 42nd-place showing on Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, before earning a 6th place finish on Beaver Lake in Rogers, Arkansas and an 11th place finish on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama. He earned a 10th-place finish on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky and wrapped up the historic season with a 13th-place finish on Lake Champlain in New York this week.
The next tournament for Morgan will be the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup Championship presented by Walmart held on Wheeler Lake, August 4-7 in Huntsville, Alabama.
Coverage of Morgan’s historic Angler of the Year win on Lake Champlain will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) Oct. 12 from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. EDT. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
The Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year title is determined by the total accumulated points from six regular-season events. Two hundred points are awarded for a win, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
