HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (July 22, 2005) - Just hours after Hot Springs native George Cochran won the Wal-Mart FLW Tour's 10th anniversary $1.5 million Forrest L. Wood Championship and collected the sport's richest purse, $500,000, the final attendance data was tallied. The result: A record 40,671 people attended the championship's four-day outdoor show and daily weigh-ins at Summit Arena.
"This was by far the largest and most successful event we've ever held in the Hot Springs Convention Center since the construction of Summit Arena in 2003," said Steve Arrison, executive director for the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau. "This is exactly the type of event we envisioned when planning the arena, and we hope to host many more FLW Outdoors championship tournaments in the future."
A record final-day weigh-in crowd crammed into Summit Arena on July 16 to watch Cochran nail down the most lucrative win of his storied career. "I've never had so many reporters calling for interviews," Cochran said. "The phone has been ringing from the time I get up in the morning and turn it on until I turn it off again at 9 o'clock at night. It has been absolutely fantastic."
Cochran's Forrest L. Wood Championship win boosted his career tournament earnings of $1.24 million by more than 40 percent to $1.74 million.
Complete coverage of the Forrest L. Wood Championship in Hot Springs will be broadcast on FSN (Fox Sports Net) as part of "Wal-Mart FLW Outdoors" at 11 a.m. Eastern time Aug. 7 and Aug. 14. Championship coverage is also provided on the American Forces Network.