Kevin VanDam of
Kalamazoo, Mich., amassed enough points Saturday to close the deal he
said he’s been focused on since his first cast this season: the 2011
Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year award, his seventh
best-angler title and fourth consecutive.
Not even the legendary
Roland Martin, holder of nine Angler of the Year titles through 1985,
strung together more than three in a row.
VanDam on Saturday also
became the first pro to land Angler of the Year and Bassmaster Classic
titles in the same season for two seasons running.
“This one means as much
if not more to me. Winning never gets old when you’re competing against
these guys,” said VanDam of his fellow Bassmaster Elite Series pros.
“I’ve been out to win Angler of the Year since the first cast of the
first tournament of the season.
“Every pro wants to win
Angler of the Year because it is our sport’s highest award. It shows
you’re at the top of your game and it rewards consistency. I haven’t won
a regular-season tournament this year — although I’m trying to change
that here on Wheeler.”
VanDam — many fans call
him “KVD” — closed on the Angler of the Year title on the third day of
the four-day Dixie Duel, the Wheeler Lake event in Alabama that doubled
as the points race finish line and the Bassmaster Elite Series season
finale. The tournament concludes Sunday, but by Saturday no angler had a
mathematical chance of overtaking VanDam in the points standings.
Edwin Evers of Talala,
Okla., came the closest. Trailing by 55 points going into the Wheeler
Lake event, Evers had been VanDam’s top threat.
The Oklahoma pro had, in
fact, been nipping at the heels of the points leaders throughout the
season: Shaw Grigsby after the season opener (which he won), Alton Jones
from tournament No. 2 through No. 5, and Terry Scroggins, who took the
lead after the sixth event but lost it to VanDam in Arkansas.
Evers — the runner-up to
VanDam for the 2010 title — faded as a threat in the first two days of
Dixie Duel competition. But the game wasn’t over, and Evers got another
at-bat when the competition continued Saturday.
“I don’t have any quit in me,” Evers said as he set out Saturday for one more swipe at VanDam.
But the heroics Evers
needed didn’t happen for him. There was no magic in Steve Kennedy’s hat
either. Third in points behind VanDam going into the Wheeler event,
Kennedy on Saturday also had had a mathematical chance of catching
VanDam.
The $100,000 award was
based on points earned in 2011 over eight regular-season tournaments.
VanDam started the season with a fourth-place finish on Florida’s Harris
Chain of Lakes. He followed with 11th place on the St. Johns River.
After the third and fourth events — finishing 22nd on Pickwick, 33rd on
Toledo Bend — he was No. 3 in the standings. Then, fishing through
back-to-back events in April at West Point Lake and Lake Murray, VanDam
inched into second place in points.
He took over at No. 1 on May 12 after the Arkansas River event. At that point only one event, the Dixie Duel, remained.
VanDam won his first
Angler of the Year crown in 1992 when he was the still the 24-year-old
“Kalamazoo Kid.” The road to the Angler of the Year was much different
in the early 1990s, VanDam said.
“It’s harder now to
win,” he said. “And when I won that first one, I really didn’t
understand the magnitude of what it meant to win an Angler of the Year
title.”
He had to work four more
years for his second title in 1996. He won for the third time in 1999.
Then he started stacking the crowns: 2008, 2009, 2010 and now 2011.
Meanwhile, he was winning Classics: 2001, 2005 and back-to-backs in 2010
and 2011.
VanDam weighed in on the question of what the sport considers to be hardest title to win, Classic or Angler of the Year.
“Winning the Classic is a
big deal — an incredible, awesome accomplishment. It’s the toughest
tournament there is to win, but it’s one tournament. I think if you ask
most anglers, they’d say winning Angler of the Year is harder,” he said.
VanDam, 43, has set the
bar high on a list of statistics and records in Bassmaster tournament
history. Since his first Bassmaster tournament in 1987, VanDam has won
$5.2 million — more than the second- and third-place money winners
combined — on the B.A.S.S. circuit. When he won the 2011 Classic, he
tied with Rick Clunn for most Classic victories, four. VanDam has
qualified for 22 consecutive Classics (counting Classic 2012). He has
posted top-10 finishes 94 times. He has stacked up a record 20
Bassmaster event wins, including the four Classics.
The competition among
Elite Series pros for points wasn’t over when VanDam won the title. The
Elite field will work through Sunday to claim spots below No. 1 and
collect prizes awarded on a sliding scale to 50th place.
Final points standings will be available Sunday afternoon at
Bassmaster.com.
Monday, VanDam is scheduled to be featured on ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning.
