What a way to kick off the Majors!
The FLW Tour event at Okeechobee had it all, ending with a rookie, Drew Benton, catching a kicker with seven minutes to go to take the tournament. Not too shabby.
As for the rankings, it’s going to be awhile before Benton shows up in the Major Ranking, but the man who finished behind him is a former No. 1-ranked angler who looks like he wants to climb back to the top.
Brent Ehrler shook off his Florida funk (he normally struggles in the Sunshine State, as shown by his 556.889 average AFTER this Okeechobee event) to finish second. That was enough to bump him up four spots to No. 12.
Meanwhile, Cody Meyer fell outside the top 10 to 13th after his 118th at the Big O. And right behind him, Wesley Strader jumped eight spots to 14th.
Todd Auten and Dave Lefebre both joined Meyer in wanting the Okeechobee event to have never happened, as Auten fell from 15th to 23rd and Lefebre from 17th to 24th.
There were a few small moves in the 20s, there were some noteworthy jumps into the top 40. Kyle Mabrey went from 43rd to 31st, followed by Brett Hite climbing from 41st to 32nd, and another Alabama pro, Scott Canterbury, finished it off by going from 44th to 38th.
Rounding out the top 50, Spencer Shuffield debuted at No. 43 (only 17 spots behind his dad), Clent Davis went from 53rd to 46th and Justin Lucas jumped from 64th to 49th.
Check back Wednesday for an update on the Regional and College rankings.
