If you were going to handicap today’s Top 12 field, would you favor someone like David Walker, who has never been lower than second place the previous three days? Or would you favor anglers on the rise, like Justin Lucas, who has moved from 16th to 5th to 3rd, and Rick Morris, who was 29th on Day 1, 14th on Day 2 and 5th on Day 3?
Note the fact that Lucas has caught 23 pounds each day. And only two anglers – Brandon Lester and Keith Combs – were able to make the final after a day of weighing less than 20 pounds.
The following is a look at where the Championship Sunday anglers were ranked in the standings and what they weighed each of the previous three days:
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Total
David Walker 2nd – 26-8 2nd – 22-14 1st – 22-15 72-5
Josh Bertrand 4th – 25-11 3rd – 22-14 2nd – 23-9 72-2
Justin Lucas 16th – 23-12 5th – 23-0 3rd – 23-7 70-3
Brandon Lester 11th – 24-4 1st – 25-13 4th – 19-13 69-14
Rick Morris 29th – 22-4 14th – 22-4 6th – 20-15 67-6
Brandon Palaniuk 43rd – 20-15 6th – 25-12 7th – 20-2 66-13
Mike McClelland 12th – 24-1 9th – 21-13 8th – 20-15 66-13
Mark Daniels Jr. 33rd – 21-14 13th – 22-11 9th – 22-3 66-12
Keith Combs 6th – 25-7 22nd – 18-0 10th – 23-1 66-8
James Elam 8th – 24-13 8th – 21-4 11th – 20-7 66-8
Seth Feider 34th – 21-11 23rd – 21-11 12th – 22-5 65-11