By Doug Hare EBS STAFF
The 2017 Professional Bull Riders world champion Jess Lockwood won the Jackson Hole PBR Touring Division stop, taking advantage of re-rides to continue his surge up the world title leaderboard since breaking his collarbone at the 2019 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA on Feb. 9, which led to him missing nine Unleash The Beast events.
Lockwood only trails world leader Jose Vitor Leme by 146.66 points following his July 16 victory in Wyoming, his first time competing in Jackson Hole. The bovine athletes for the event were supplied by eight-time PBR contractor of the year Chad Berger.
Lockwood went 3-for-3 over the two day competition, winning the first night with a 89.5 ride on Lefty to top Derek Kolbaba’s 87.5 score from early in the night. On night two, Lockwood put up 88 and 87 point rides to beat out Daylon Swearingen (85/88), the only other bull rider to put up a qualifying ride in the last round of competition.
The Volborg, Montana, native leads the PBR with five wins this summer and a PBR record 687.5 world points earned during the UTB summer break. At the time of his injury, Lockwood held the no. 1 ranking with a commanding 967.5-point lead, which other bull riders chipped away at during his absence from competition. The 21-year-old is an impressive 28-for-42 (66.66 percent) at all levels since returning to competition on May 3.
“What an amazing stop for the PBR as 40 of the best bull riders in the world battled it out in Jackson Hole as the 2019 season kicks into high gear,” said Cord McCoy, longtime spokesperson for PBR and former bull rider and TV personality. “Congratulations to Jess Lockwood for going 3-for-3 against some outstanding PBR bulls.”
Lockwood, world no. 3 Chase Outlaw and a host of other world-class bull riders are slated to convene in Big Sky for a three-day PBR competition July 25-27.
