Jess Lockwood Makes History As Youngest PBR World Champion
After five days and six rounds in one of the tightest championship races in PBR history, Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana) was crowned the 2017 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Champion Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.
Lockwood, 20, is the youngest World Champion cowboy in PBR history, and he joins three-time World Champion Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil) as the only riders to win the World Championship the year after being named the organization’s Rookie of the Year.
Lockwood went 3-for-6 at the 24th annual World Finals, reclaiming the No. 1 spot in the world following his Round 2 victory.
In winning three consecutive rounds at the season-culminating event, the Montana cowboy’s name was further etched into the PBR record books.
Lockwood won the first three rounds, highlighted by 90.25-point rides in Round 1 and Round 3.
He is the 17th rider to claim the PBR World Champion gold buckle in the PBR’s 24-year history.
Lockwood earns the PBR’s $1 million World Champion bonus and finished 2017 with earnings of $1,525,292.90 and 4,862.5 world points.
“The money is icing on the cake, but money doesn’t mean much and it goes away,” Lockwood said. “The championship buckle will be with me forever.”
Lockwood battled back from various serious injuries, including four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a lacerated kidney.
“A lot of grit went into this,” Lockwood said. “I got pretty banged up this year. You got to cowboy up each and every weekend and make the most of very bull.”
The 21-year-old is now the 20th rider to win the event title and the fifth in PBR history to cover all of his bulls in the process.
See the best of the best at Golden 1 Center, as PBR returns Jan. 26-28.