LAS VEGAS – The 8-second buzzer went off, the scoreboard turned green and the sellout crowd at T-Mobile Arena erupted Saturday night during Round 4 of the PBR World Finals.
World leader Jose Vitor Leme had just capped a sensational night with an emphatic 89.75-point ride on Bootdaddy.com minutes after No. 2 Jess Lockwood rode The Right Stuff for 91.75 points.
Then came The Point.
Leme did not just ride his bull, but he pointed at Lockwood on the back of the bucking chutes before he dismounted Bootdaddy.com.
What led to such a display of showmanship?
“The reason I did that was by far no disrespect or to be aggressive toward him,” Leme said following the round with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “It was to turn this into a fun moment and pretty much say, ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter what you do. It is not going to bother me none. I am not worried about what is going on around me. I am here to do my job and this is what I am going to do, and this is what I just did.’”
Lockwood later went and shook Leme’s hand to congratulate his stiff competitor’s qualified ride at the end of the round.
The 2017 World Champion said Leme’s actions did not bother him one bit.
“Shit, that is fine by me,” Lockwood said. “I am just riding bulls. I am not paying attention to much else. He is riding his bulls and getting his job done. He can do whatever afterwards.”
Leme previously pointed at his friends on the back of the bucking chutes earlier this season when he rode Nailed for 87.75 points at the Ty Murray Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In fact, there is a massive banner outside T-Mobile Arena at Toshiba Plaza in Vegas this week of that moment.
The 22-year-old explained that sports brings out fierce competition, adrenaline and excitement.
“This put a little pepper on the competition for the world title,” Leme said. “It doesn’t matter if he wins or I win. This is just to spice it up.”
Saturday night, and frankly this entire week in Las Vegas, is exactly the kind of moment Leme wanted when he texted Lockwood his best wishes during the winter. He told Lockwood that he wanted him to make a full recovery from his broken left collarbone sustained at the Global Cup so that he could be in a world title race against him.
“It is not between us, it is between our bulls,” Leme said.
That race is now down to two final rounds, and Lockwood is giving Leme all he has.
The Volborg, Montana, bull rider is a perfect 4-for-4 and in the driver’s seat to win the World Finals event average – and an extremely important 1,500 world points – and a world title.
Lockwood will begin Championship Sunday trailing Leme by 377.49 points in the world standings, but his position in the event average actually has him with a commanding grip on the world title.
If Lockwood rides both of his bulls on Sunday, he will win the World Finals event average. If Lockwood wins the World Finals event average and Leme were to finish second in the event average, that would put Leme 402.51 points behind Lockwood in the final standings. Leme would then need to earn 402.51 world points more than Lockwood via round finish in Rounds 5 and 6.
Leme is sitting third in the event average, and he is one of eight riders 3-for-4 trying to catch Lockwood.
Lockwood leads No. 2 Cody Teel by 93 points and Leme by 94.5 points in the event average standings. World No. 3 Chase Outlaw is fifth in the event average, but he is 1,899.16 points behind Leme in the world standings and 98.25 points behind Lockwood in the event average.
Outlaw needs an event average win and a lot of help to catch Lockwood and Leme for a world title.
Leme leads the PBR with 18 round wins in 2019, and he may just need two more this weekend to fend off Lockwood for the world title, especially if Lockwood hangs on for the event average win.
Lockwood and Leme have monster matchups for Round 5 that will play into how the world title gets decided on Sunday.
Lockwood selected Rising Sun with the third pick of the draft late Saturday night, which left an astounded Leme to pick Cochise at No. 4.
Fans can catch Round 5 and the championship round on CBS Sports Network at 4 p.m. ET and RidePass at 3:45 p.m. ET.
Leme has ridden Cochise three straight times for 91.25 points or more this season. He won the Ty Murray Invitational – his first pointing moment of 2019 – with a 92.75-point ride.
“If someone would have asked me what bull I want at the World Finals, I would say Cochise,” Leme said. “To be able to come into this draft round and just for him not to be in the short round, be in the fourth pick and still have him there is just a blessing from God. I was really surprised to have him.”
Leme thought Lockwood may take Cochise, a bull he thinks Lockwood could be more than 92 points on.
However, he also knows Lockwood has a perfect history with Rising Sun. Lockwood is 3-for-3 against Rising Sun, including a 90.5-point ride earlier this season to win the second event of the season in Chicago. He also rode Rising Sun for 92.5 points to win Chad Berger’s Match of Champions in June 2018.
“I was very surprised, but Rising Sun is a good pick for him,” Leme said. “For me and every left-handed riders, I just think Cochise can be way higher.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
