So here ’ s the task at hand : For Jordan Lee ( 341 ) to run Wheeler down in the final two events , he ’ ll have to finish 19.5 places higher at both Cayuga and Mille Lacs . The raw numbers tell us just how tall of a task that is :

• Wheeler ’ s average finish in 2022 ( counting REDCREST and Heavy Hitters ) is seventh .

• His two-year average finish in all Bass Pro Tour-related events is eighth .

• Wheeler has finished in the Top 10 in 16 of the past 19 tour-level events he ’ s fished , dating back to the first event of 2021 ( and including the three Pro Circuit “ Super Tournaments ” he fished that year ). That third statistic is mind-blowing , approaching historical and unprecedented . I ’ ll dig deeper into those numbers next issue , but for the 2022 Bally Bet AOY discussion at hand , suffice it to say that Wheeler hasn ’ t allowed 19.5 places ahead of him more than two times in two years ( he finished 19th at 2022 Heavy Hitters ).

lee isn ’ t letting up

Despite Wheeler ’ s daunting lead in the AOY race , it still feels pretty foolish to ever bet against perennial AOY threat Jordan Lee , who has been exceptional in 2022 . The 2020 Bass Pro Tour AOY has two Top 3 finishes of his own this season and has gone 3 , 11 , 2 , 23 , 23 in five events , doggedly pursuing Wheeler throughout the season , averaging 68.2 points per event in 2022 – barely behind his AOY-winning pace of 70.2 two seasons ago – and staying within striking distance as the schedule heads north to New York and Minnesota .

* THROUGH 5 EVENTS

PHOTO BY JOSH GASSMANN

Jordan Lee enters the final two events in second place .

Lee surrendered 43 points to Wheeler in Stages Four and Five , but the upcoming swing through the North put the Alabama pro on waters he ’ s routinely excellent on : Lee has nine Top 10s on northern fisheries and finished second on Cayuga in 2016 and ninth on Mille Lacs in 2017 .

The Alabama pro is simply unavoidable in tour-level AOY races – he ’ s finished in the Top 10 in four of the six full seasons he ’ s fished since his rookie year in 2015 – and he historically performs well in end-of-season events ( three Top 10s in six season-ending events ).

Morgan , VanDam : Two GOATs Doing GOAT Things

The anglers lurking in third and fourth place , respectively , own 13 tour-level AOY awards between them : Andy Morgan ( 315 ) won three FLW Tour trophies ( 2013 , 2014 , 2016 ); Kevin VanDam ( 302.5 ) has claimed eight AOYs ( FLW in 2001 ; Bassmaster in 1992 , 1996 , 1999 , 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 ). Morgan was nicknamed “ The Goat ” during his AOY battle with Cody Meyer in 2014 ; VanDam simply IS the G . O . A . T .

They both trail Wheeler by a nearly impossible margin , but let ’ s celebrate the facts :

• Morgan has been a horse you want to bet on in a tourlevel AOY race since 2007 , when he finished seventh in the FLW Tour Angler of the Year . Since that time , the Tennessee pro has finished in the Top 10 in AOY 12 times

• VanDam owns 15 career Top 10s in northern fisheries , including a win at Cayuga in 2016 and finished 10th at Mille Lacs just three months later .

Tharp Putting Together a Career Year

There ’ s a Honey Badger lurking in the five spot .

Randall Tharp has quietly ( or , maybe not so quietly considering a serious flirtation with the win at Watts Bar ) put together one of the best seasons of his 13-year tour-level career . He enters the New York / Minnesota stretch with a pretty legitimate shot at climbing into the No . 3 spot , which would match the Florida pro ’ s career-best AOY finish ( Tharp was third in AOY his second year on the Elite Series in 2016 ). Shout out to the Honey Badger ’ s diversity . He ’ s done it in a season without a single tournament day in Florida , or on Guntersville or Eufaula to his benefit .

Tharp has been the model of consistency in 2022 , owning the mid-20s spot in stages One through Four ( he went 23 , 23 , 26 , 27 ) before hair-jigging his way into a fourth-place finish at Watts Bar and climbing into the Top 5 . Tharp has been solid on Cayuga and Mille Lacs as well , landing in that mid- 20s to mid-30s spot the few times he ’ s competed there .

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 11