Austin Felix has certainly made it difficult on the rest of the field this Championship Sunday. With a near 3-pound lead to start the day and an estimated 15-pounds even today, Felix still isn’t where he thought he’d need to be to win.
As he crossed the stage yesterday, Felix said he thought he’d need 18-pounds on the final day to lock this one up. He’s still a couple bites away from that mark, needing to cull a couple 2-pounders with heavy 3s to get there.
Still, in spite of Felix’s own predictions, he’s currently enjoying a 2-pound lead over Chris Johnston with little time left to fish. And Johnston already has a solid bag in the boat, making culling up 2-pounds more difficult.
Felix brought in his smallest bag of the tournament on Day 1, a respectable 14-2. The most memorable part of his day though, was likely the moment he put his hands on a ferocious 4-pound smallmouth just prior to it pulling off.
There’s no doubt that missed opportunity has played out time and time again in Felix’s mind since then. It’s those moments that haunt anglers, knowing that another 2-pound cushion would be a mighty fine thing to have right now.
But looking back on what might have been is about as useless as pining over a high school sweetheart while sitting on your couch in your 40s licking Cheeto dust off your fingers. Pretty much pointless, and nothing down either of those roads but heartache and regret.
Felix has done a fine job staying optimistic and grinding his way back up the leaderboard since then.
Will that missed fish cost him? Or will he do what few are capable of doing, and win an Elite without everything going his way? We’ll know in a couple hours.
