White Marlin Open: All 2017 winners to be paid

Richard Pollitt
The Daily Times

More than two months after the tournament, the White Marlin Open released a statement Tuesday morning determining that all 2017 winners will receive prize money in their respective categories.

The boat "Team Player" captured a 70 inch 70.5 pound White Marlin as Day 3 of the 44th Annual White Marlin Tournament in Ocean City brought in several White Marlin for the Leader Board as 2 days of fishing remain.
Special to the Daily Times / Chuck Snyder

The statement is as follows:

READ MORE: 1 White Marlin Open winner fails polygraph, 2 being retested

MORE WMO: Ousted 2016 winners question silence on 2017 polygraph

The Tournament Directors of the White Marlin Open are determined to protect the integrity of the Tournament as the largest billfish tournament in the world. As has been the policy of the White Marlin Open since 2004, at the conclusion of the 2017 Tournament, the top money winners were polygraphed.

After an extensive process and after reviewing all the evidence, the Tournament Directors have confirmed the eligibility of all the winners previously announced, and, in accordance with the rules of the tournament, those winners will receive the prize money for their categories. 

The Tournament Directors made every possible effort to ensure complete fairness to all participants, including a post-tournament protocol to verify compliance with the rules. The White Marlin Open, like many other tournaments, has found that the use of polygraphs is an effective method of ensuring compliance with the rules, particularly with over 350 boats participating over tens of thousands of square miles.  The rules allow the Tournament Directors to require additional polygraphs for the angler and others on the winning boat, and provide the angler with a right to obtain a separate polygraph at his or her own expense. After all tests were complete, the Tournament Directors carefully reviewed the results, consulted with the polygraph examiners and a leading polygraph expert, and reached a decision about each winner. 

The White Marlin Open strives to obtain the highest integrity and fairness in all of its awards and determinations of adherence to the Rules & Regulations. The Tournament Directors are committed to taking as much time as is needed to reach the appropriate decision, including the involvement of a top expert whose schedule we needed to work around—leading to a longer timeline this year. It is for these reasons that the Tournament Directors have made the determination to award the prize money to the winners.

The crew of the Wire Nut poses for a photo with their 95.5 pound marlin during the White Marlin Open at Harbour Island Marina in Ocean City on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017.

The statement comes one week after a representative of the Kallianassa, the boat that 2016 winner Phil Heasley fished with, released a statement regarding the White Marlin Open’s silence on the 2017 polygraph tests.

White Marlin Open founder Jim Motsko confirmed on Aug. 25, 2017, that a prize-winning angler in the 44th annual White Marlin Open tournament failed a required polygraph while another's was inconclusive following the competition's conclusion.

While the anglers or boats were announced, Motsko confirmed an additional test would be registered, a rule tournament directors are allowed to enforce.

In June, a federal judge ruled Heasley violated tournament rules in the 2016 competition, resulting in the withholding of the $2.8 million winnings. Heasley is currently appealing the decision.

Glen Frost, a Maryland native, won the top prize of $1.6 million in this year’s tournament, after catching a 95.5 white marlin on the final day of the tournament.

A 70 inch, 86 pound White Marlin was caught by angler Mike Donahue from Wilmington, Del. aboard the boat "Griffin" from Palm Beach, Fla. as Day 3 of the 44th Annual White Marlin Tournament in Ocean City brought in several White Marlin for the Leader Board as 2 days of fishing remain.
Special to the Daily Times / Chuck Snyder

Along with Frost, any other angler winning $50,000 or more was eligible to receive a polygraph examination, including Mike Donohue of the Griffin and Joe Andrews of M.R. Ducks in the white marlin division; Joe Sadler of the Intents, Jim Boynton of the Blue Runner and Kris Rainear of the Warden Pass in the tuna category; Stu Windsor of the LISA in the small boat tuna division; and Andrew Cohen of the Silly Money in the dolphin division.