Jess Lockwood made his return to compete in the Professional Bull Riders World Finals and defend his world champion status. The richest and most prestigious event in bull riding was held at AT&T Stadium November 12-15. The Finals, originally scheduled to be held in Las Vegas, were moved to Arlington, Texas due to Nevada’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Despite missing many events in the 2020 season due to injury, Lockwood still held on to fifth place in the world standings heading into the Finals. In March, Lockwood suffered a complete hamstring tear while dismounting his bull at the Kansas City, Missouri event. He underwent surgery in New York on March 10. He returned to competition in September at his home state event in Billings. On October 3, he sustained a shoulder injury in Lincoln, Nebraska. Jess has focused on a full recovery with help from local physical therapist Kristy Elgin. The World Finals was his first event back since his shoulder injury.
In order to catch world leader Jose Vitor Leme, Jess needed to have a top notch showing in Texas. Jess didn’t make the 8 second whistle the first 3 round of the Finals, but capped his fourth round with a 91 point ride to win the round. He placed 10th in the World Finals and garnered $55,611.11 in prize money.
For the 2020 season, Jess landed in 5th place in the world with over 275k earned. Younger brother Jake Lockwood was out with an injury or he would have had the opportunity to be an alternate at the World Finals. The younger Lockwood brother would finish the season 50th in the world. Leme was crowned world champion.
We look forward to cheering on the Lockwood brothers in the upcoming PBR season. The Unleash the Beast Tour kicks off the season in Duluth, Georgia, January 8-9 with the Gwinnett Invitational. The Billings, Montana event follows, on January 22-24.
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