Lockwood Continuing to See Progress in Recovery from Torn Hamstring
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood had his four-week check-up on Monday with Dr. Tandy Freeman after undergoing reconstructive left hamstring surgery on March 10.
Lockwood said on his Instagram account that the appointment went well, everything is moving along as scheduled and he is making progress in his recovery.
“I got out of my hip brace and I am back to driving a little bit,” Lockwood said. “Putting a little more weight on my leg. Two more weeks and I can finally start regularly walking again. So, really good news today.”
Lockwood tore his left hamstring on March 1 in Kansas City, Missouri, in a freak accident. The 2016 PBR Rookie of the Year caught his right spur in his bull rope during his dismount from I’m Legit Too following a 91.5-point ride. The bovine athlete then yanked Lockwood into a split, ripping his hamstring muscles from his hip.
The Volborg, Montana, bull rider is currently sitting No. 2 in the world standings and is the reigning PBR World Champion.
Fans can watch Lockwood’s memorable come-from-behind performance at the 2019 World Finals to win his second world title this coming Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on RidePass for FREE.
Lockwood’s bid at becoming only the second rider in PBR history to win back-to-back world titles took a significant hit because of his hamstring injury last month.
Dr. Thomas Youm performed the surgery in New York City and, according to Lockwood, the surgery was a success.
“It was really good,” Lockwood said last month. “Once he cut me open and got in there, he found out I didn’t need a cadaver tendon that they were going to have to drill through my hip and pull everything up with. I didn’t need that. My main tendon was still attached to the bone, so everything looked a lot better once he got in there. My muscle was torn in half… but he said I should heal easier and quicker than he thought before.”
Lockwood is expected to be out of competition until around the middle of September.
Even before the PBR went on a temporary hiatus because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, Lockwood believed he could still contend for the 2020 World Championship when he returns.
“Shoot, I still think I am in the world title race,” he said. “There is no reason I shouldn’t be.”
World leader Jose Vitor Leme (broken ribs) has also been out of competition since Kansas City like Lockwood, so Lockwood remains 72.5 points behind Leme.
A six-month timeline would place Lockwood potentially back in action around September. If he were to be cleared by Labor Day, that would give him potentially seven more regular-season UTB events and the 2020 PBR World Finals on Nov. 4-8.
Lockwood competed in 18 UTB events in total last year after having to miss three months because of a broken left collarbone. He has competed in seven UTB events in 2020. If he returned in Anaheim (Sept. 11-12), he could finish this year with appearances at 15 total events.
One rider can earn up to 1,040 world points at the World Finals, which offers 4.3% more points than last year’s Finals.
World Finals round victories are worth 80 points – the equivalent to winning a two-day UTB event average – and the event average at the World Finals pays out 560 world points.
Lockwood won the 2019 PBR World Finals by going 5-for-6 with one round victory, and he will need another massive performance at the Finals if he wants to become the second rider in PBR history to win back-to-back world titles. He would have earned 772 world points at the World Finals in this year’s current points system.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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