LAS VEGAS – Jess Lockwood plans to wake up early on Sunday morning in his hotel room at the New York New York Hotel & Casino to order some room service for breakfast.
It will be a similar routine to what he did two years ago when he became the youngest World Champion in PBR history. In 2017, Lockwood got up, ordered an omelet and some toast, and went back to sleep before it arrived.
“I ate and kind of slept in as much as I could,” Lockwood recalled. “I didn’t eat much. I was a little nervous.”
The No. 2-ranked bull rider will want to eat something light once again before he prepares to head to T-Mobile Arena Sunday looking to make history as the sixth bull rider to win multiple World Championships.
Lockwood is the only rider a perfect 4-for-4 at the 2019 PBR World Finals, and he is in the driver’s seat to win the 2019 World Championship and his first career World Finals event title.
“I feel more settled in,” Lockwood said. “The week has been going good. I am not comfortable, but I just feel confident. All I feel like is I have to nod my head and my body is going to take over and I am going to stay on. It is at that point where I just feel so good and just need to finish them.”
The 22-year-old will begin Championship Sunday trailing world leader Jose Vitor 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 race.
If Lockwood rides both of his bulls on Sunday, he will win the World Finals event average and 1,500 points toward the world standings. 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.
“That is the thing, regardless of the situation; you are always in control of your destiny,” Lockwood said following the conclusion of Round 4 Saturday night. “As long as you stay on your bulls, you are going to win. Everything is going to work out. That is the thing. I just have to stay on my bulls.”
Lockwood posted his third consecutive ride of 91 points or higher by riding The Right Stuff for 91.25 points and a third-place finish in Round 4 in front of a raucous sellout crowd inside T-Mobile Arena.
Leme is sitting third in the event average, and he is one of eight riders 3-for-4 trying to catch Lockwood.
The world No. 1 bull rider countered Lockwood’s ride minutes later by going for 89.75 points on Bootdaddy.com.
“The World Championship might be a little easier if not for this guy,” Lockwood said. “I mean, I go out and I am 91 or something, and he turns around and he is 89-90 points. Nothing phases him. I could step out and be 100 and he could give a crap less. He will go out and be 101.”
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.
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 thought Lockwood would select Cochise, but Lockwood decided to stick with a familiar foe.
“I never had been on him,” Lockwood said. “I didn’t know what to expect from him. He looks like he feels really good and everyone makes him feel that way, but I have been (92.5) on Rising Sun before and I have been 90 on him before. He feels so good when you spur. He is going to fit me great for this.”
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.
Was there any concern about leaving Cochise for Leme?
“No, I am not looking at anyone else except myself,” Lockwood said. “If I start worrying about, ‘Well, I better pick this bull because if I don’t, he is going to be more than me,’ hell, it don’t matter to me. I am trying to put myself into a position to try and go into the short go No. 1 and just stay on my bull there. Then it is done and over with.
“I want to go out and I want to dominate every bull. I want to be 91.5 to 92 on Rising Sun. I could then go be 94 to 95 in the championship round and put icing on the cake.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
