PUEBLO, Colo. – Sean Willingham was walking around the locker room at the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Huntington, West Virginia, five months ago when he saw a bull rope hanging by its lonesome.
Willingham passed by the rope and didn’t think much of it at first.
A few minutes later, he took another glance.
“It was sitting there screaming, ‘Sean! Sean! Sean!’ Willingham recalled this past weekend at the Columbus Invitational. “Every time I walked by, I was like, ‘Man this rope is nice.’ I went up there and felt it and messed with it. There was something about it that I liked, and I wanted to try it.”
Willingham didn’t have the money in the moment to buy the rope off fellow bull rider Lindomar Lino, but the 36-year-old bull rider and bull rope maker offered to let Willingham borrow the rope and test it out.
All it took was one event for Willingham to pony up the couple of hundred bucks Lino wanted.
Willingham rode both of his bulls the following weekend to win the Biloxi Buckoff, and it was the beginning of Willingham’s ultimate march back to the 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast this year.
“Lindomar Lino changed my career for this last season for sure,” Willingham said. “It is just the mentality. I showed up confident with that bull rope. Once you show up confident no matter what you are riding with you are going to do good. You are going to have success.”
Willingham heads into this weekend’s Last Cowboy Standing, presented by Ariat, at Helldorado Days ranked 24th in the world standings.
It is the highest the Summerville, Georgia, bull rider has been ranked since the 2015 Iron Cowboy event at AT&T Stadium. Willingham also hadn’t been ranked in the Top 30 of the world standings this late in the season since breaking his neck in Billings, Montana, two months later.
“It is still kind of scratching and clawing,” Willingham said. “24 is good for one week, but you never know what is going to happen at the Velocity events or what is going to happen here, so you have to keep plugging away one bull at a time.”
Willingham has used three consecutive Top-6 finishes to earn himself a spot back on tour for the first time in three years.
He first placed second at the Casper, Wyoming, Velocity Tour event on April 7 to earn a bid to the Tacoma Invitational. Then 12 years after winning the Tacoma Invitational, Willingham placed fourth in Washington before back-to-back, sixth-place finishes in Billings and Columbus, Ohio.
Willingham has ridden five of his last nine bulls to begin the process of laying the concrete for a cemented trip to the PBR World Finals later this season.
He has earned 430 world points in three weeks to go from No. 50 in the world standings to No. 24.
“I didn’t want to go out this season at Velocity events only,” Willingham said. “Making their Finals and doing good there and advancing over to the World Finals. I wanted to be here on tour for the whole year, but I had some setbacks in Denver. I was pretty close right off the bat after that win and I had a (right knee) injury that set me back 5-6 weeks. That is what kept me away for long. I think I had a good chance to come back a lot sooner.
“We are here now so let’s make the most out of the rest of the year.”
Willingham has a 304.17-point cushion between him and No. 36 Brady Oleson, but the veteran doesn’t plan on letting his foot off the gas pedal until he is done riding at the 2018 PBR World Finals on Nov. 11.
“I want to still come here not comfortable because I do kind of slack up then,” Willingham said. “I want to keep that same mentality I have had these last few weeks. Going to these events and thinking, ‘I need to make up ground. I need to make up ground. I need to make up ground.’
“If I can keep that composure, we can keep climbing and for sure be in there.”
Willingham may have had the sense of urgency, especially knowing that 2018 will be his final season, but he has been enjoying the final ride.
There is a sense of peace and pure enjoyment surrounding Willingham as he walks through each locker room every weekend one final time.
Two-time World Champion and CBS Sports Network commentator Justin McBride used to ride alongside Willingham.
McBride has been impressed with how well Willingham has been riding this season away from his hand, but he said ultimately you can tell Willingham is simply enjoying the sport as the months and days count down.
“It is almost like he has a freedom like he knows he is done after this year,” McBride said. “He is having fun. He is relaxed and he is riding good.”
Last Cowboy Standing is taking place at the Thomas & Mack Center, which hosted the PBR World Finals from 1999-2015.
Fans can watch Round 1 on CBS Sports Network Friday beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Willingham didn’t realize until last weekend that Last Cowboy Standing was taking place where he last nodded his head at the PBR World Finals four years ago.
It will be a special two days for Willingham as he reflects on some of his fondest rides in that building, but he is ultimately excited to hopefully ride for the first and final time at T-Mobile Arena.
“It is pretty cool we are going back to the Thomas & Mack,” Willingham concluded. “Maybe I get the best of both worlds. I can go to Thomas & Mack one more time and then end it at T-Mobile.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko