NEW YORK CITY – As one of three riders to deliver a flawless performance inside Madison Square Garden, 2017 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Champion Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana) won the Unleash The Beast Monster Energy Buck Off at The Garden, presented by Ariat, his second Major victory of his career in New York City.
Lockwood’s Championship Sunday began with a punishing 85-point ride aboard Dream Catcher (Wallgren/High View Cattle Co.) in Round 3, leading him to enter the season-launching event’s final round the top-ranked rider in the aggregate. After making it 8 seconds, he took three hard hits from the bull, passed his concussion protocol, and would get back on his final draw for a veritable walk-off home run.
Selecting the previously unridden Prayer Warrior (Halpain & Roth), the 21-year-old phenom brought the roaring crowd inside “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” to its feet, riding the bovine athlete for a season-high, and round-winning, 91.75 points.
For his victory, Lockwood netted 895 world points and collected a check for $118,350. He is now the No. 1-ranked rider in the world, 572.5 points ahead of No. 2 Claudio Montanha Jr. (Pacaembu, Brazil).
The World Champion bull rider is now one of just three riders to win the New York City Major in multiple seasons. Lockwood previously won the event in 2017, the first of four event wins for the Montana rider that season en route to becoming the youngest World Champion in league history.
“I was confident coming in (to last season), but there were times when I didn’t want to ride bulls at all,” Lockwood said. “I was pretty disappointed in myself. After the season, I thought to myself, ‘If you’re going to do this, do it right.’ This sport is just too gosh-darn dangerous to do it any other way.”
Jake Lockwood, younger brother to Jess, is also competing in the PBR. So far this season, Jake is ranked 37th in the world, riding in three events. This weekend, Jake rode in the Oakland Classic of the PBR Velocity tour, winning 6th place.
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