A Gardendale resident will be competeing in the top event of one of bass fishing’s two big professional tours.

Randy Tharp, an angler who has been on the top-level pro tournament trail for three years, will fish in the Forrest Wood Cup, the championship event of the FLW Outdoors top bass tour.

Tharp qualified for the Cup by winning Angler of the Year honors in the Stren Series Southeast Division in 2009, and finishing 12th in the FLW Series Eastern Division. It’s his first entry in the Cup.

Tharp’s best finish this season was 14th place in an FLW Tour event on Lake Norman in Oklahoma. He’s fished in 84 events since 1997, both in FLW Outdoors at various levels and also in Bassmaster events, the sport’s other major tour.

Tharp and 77 other competitors will fish on Lake Lanier, northeast of Atlanta, with weigh-in at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. Fishing begins Thursday morning, and ends Sunday. The winner will walk away with $500,000.