PRCA 2020 Leaders Closing in on Last Year’s Top 15 Threshold
ProRodeo athletes are winning more money than ever before.
The 2020 season is just getting started and the top cowboys in each event already are closing in on the threshold of what it took to finish in the Top 15 last season to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
In 2019, the No. 15 spot in bareback riding qualified for the Wrangler NFR with $79,271. Three-time world champion Tim O’Connell is $18,965 away from crossing that mark after already earning $60,306 as of Feb. 24.
Tie-down roper Shad Mayfield is even closer, with only $8,559 separating him from the 2019 benchmark for 15th of $86,260. The $77,701 Mayfield has earned is the most won as of Feb. 24.
| Event | No. 1 as of Feb. 24, 2020 | 15th at the end of 2019 regular season | Difference |
| Bareback riding | $60,306 | $79,271 | $18,965 |
| Steer wrestling | $33,508 | $74,950 | $41,442 |
| Team roping heading | $36,213 | $73,191 | $36,978 |
| Team roping heeling | $35,676 | $71,190 | $35,514 |
| Saddle bronc riding | $66,637 | $90,811 | $24,174 |
| Tie-down roping | $77,701 | $86,260 | $8,559 |
| Steer roping | $21,180 | $34,835 | $13,655 |
| Bull riding | $54,533 | $108,160 | $53,627 |
“I wasn’t a huge fan of not winning the world last year,” O’Connell said. “I was super happy for Clayton (Biglow) and thought he earned it, but that didn’t change the hunger everyone has for a gold buckle.”
If O’Connell or Mayfield has a repeat week like they had Feb. 17-23, they would find themselves well beyond the 2019 Top 15 threshold, as Mayfield won $29,330 that week and O’Connell $27,211.
At this point in the 2019 season, neither O’Connell nor Mayfield were among the top 20 in the world standings. On Feb. 22, 2019, Biglow led the bareback riding world standings with $29,425, while Tyson Durfey led the tie-down roping world standings with $39,682.
“I’m well ahead of my pace from last year,” O’Connell said. “I feel good about it, but I’m just thinking about my next rodeo. I’m really enjoying rodeoing, especially this winter since I have my wife and son here. That makes a big difference, I’m not anxious to get back home.”
Winning his third consecutive bareback riding world title came at a price for O’Connell that put him out of competition for six months of the 2019 season. During Round 10 of the 2018 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, he posted an 87-point ride on J Bar J’s All Pink to win the world title, but he also suffered a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum.
“I plan on being a world champion this year, that’s the only goal I want to accomplish this year,” O’Connell said. “I believe the shoulder injury re-lit a passion and love of the game for me. This year hasn’t sunk in on how great it’s been, I’m just enjoying the day to day.”
By the time he returned to the chutes in June 2019, O’Connell had a $35,000 hill to climb to reach 15th in the world standings.
Mayfield faced a different struggle last season but got off the bubble at the last possible moment, moving from 15th to 13th to finish the regular season with $90,421 – $4,161 away from 16th.
“Last year I had to work my butt off to get that $90,000 and was on the bubble all year,” Mayfield said.
This season has been a different story, as Mayfield picked up $10,208 in Denver, $7,808 in Fort Worth and won in San Antonio to take home $24,500.
“I really just won where it’s all counted,” Mayfield said. “It’s a good thing to get it added up in the winter for an easier summer.”
| Event | Name | Total won Feb. 17-23 |
| Bareback riding | Tim O’Connell | $27,211 |
| Steer wrestling | Curtis Cassidy | $27,627 |
| Team roping heading | Dustin Egusquiza | $23,750 |
| Team roping heeling | Travis Graves | $23,750 |
| Saddle bronc riding | Brody Cress | $24,750 |
| Tie-down roping | Shad Mayfield | $29,330 |
| Bull riding | Denton Fugate | $23,000 |
Although O’Connell didn’t win the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, he took home $19,875 and won an additional $7,336 at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson, Ariz.
“That goes to show how the winter rodeos treat us like pro athletes,” O’Connell said. “I know everyone who steps into an arena like San Antonio, Houston, The American and Fort Worth gets treated like real pro athletes.”
Mayfield’s goal for 2020 isn’t to just win the world title, he also wants to set a record for most money won in a single season.
That tie-down roping record for most money won in a single season before the Wrangler NFR is $190,445, set by Tuf Cooper in 2017. The record for most money won in a single season including the Wrangler NFR in tie-down roping is $317,421, set by Marcos Costa in 2017.
“I want to keep going and have the same pace I had last year and win as much money as I can before the Finals,” Mayfield said.
Courtesy of PRCA