Ten-time Stock Contractor of the Year Chad Berger’s Smooth Operator dominates to win second-consecutive YETI PBR World Champion Bull title

ARLINGTON, Texas – Competing at his first-ever PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals, Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas) delivered a near perfect 4-for-5 performance inside AT&T Stadium, to win the 2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast event title, clinching the 2020 PBR Rookie of the Year honor and propelling to No. 3 in the world.

Just as the 2020 PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (RIbas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) had loudly announced his arrival at the top of the sport by dominating the World Finals event in 2017, Campbell, winner of the four-day 2020 season-culminating event, also put the bull riding world on notice that a new title-contending cowboy is on the scene.

“I’m lost for words,” Campbell said. “I’ve been working at this all year long, especially with the year we had. It was crazy. We had to go through a lot of obstacles. PBR went through a ton of stress to get us to where we are. And heck, my emotions right now are so happy.”

“I’ve always dreamed of a PBR World title. This is one step closer to that goal. It’s a big accomplishment.”

Beginning the season-culminating event No. 33 in the world, Campbell began his surge up the standings when he covered Heartbreak Kid (D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle/Erwin Cattle) for 88 points in Round 1 on Thursday night.

The Texas native then drafted Bullseye (Mears Owen) for Round 2 of the event in his home state, once again reaching the requisite 8, this time for a score of 89.25 points.

Campbell then recorded the second 90-point ride of his Unleash The Beast career, and his first-at the PBR World Finals, on Safety Meeting (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Hruby/Kainz) for a commanding 90 points in Round 4.

While the 22-year-old, who is the lone rider to qualify for both the PBR World Finals and National Finals Rodeo, was unable to remain perfect at the sport’s most prestigious event, bucked off by Silent Night (Hart Cattle Co./Randy Wood) in 4.13 seconds in Round 4, he punctuated his World Finals debut with a score when he covered Buckin For Cash (Paradigm Bull Company) for a sensational 90.75 points in the championship round as cowboy hats from fellow riders zinged in celebration over the dirt before the ride was complete.

Including the $300,000 World Finals event winner bonus, Campbell netted a check for $368,500 as well as 710 world points. He surged 30 positions in the world standings to conclude his first season with the PBR No. 3 in the world, 722.34 points behind PBR World Champion Leme.

“I’m so happy to be here in this spot,” Campbell said. “Winning the Rookie of the Year, that was a goal I had coming in here, and I knew I was far behind, and I knew I needed some help drawing and riding. And I’m glad everything worked out this week, and it all played in my favor.”

In his blazing path to the Rookie of the Year honor, Campbell overtook fellow Texan Cole Melancon (Paris, Texas) for the title. Melancon concluded the race amongst first-year professionals second, while Alex Cerqueira (Iguatemi, Brazil) was third, Mauricio Moreira (Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil) was fourth, and Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas) rounded out the Top 5 in fifth.

Leme was crowned the 2020 PBR World Champion Saturday evening following his monstrous 95.75-point, Round 3-winning ride aboard Woopaa (Barker Bucking Bulls).

The statement 8-second effort, a career-best for Leme, was also the high-marked ride of the 2020 PBR World Finals, earning the Brazilian phenom his second Lane Frost/Brent Thurman Award. Leme also captured the honor in 2017 when he covered Magic Train (Jared Allen’s Pro Bull Team) for 94.5 points in the championship round.

Adding to the significance of Leme’s title-clinching ride, his match-up with Woopaa, solidified a world title for both the bull rider and bovine athlete.

Woopaa bucked to both the 2020 ABBI Classic World Championship and the 2020 ABBI Classic Bull of the Finals title courtesy of his monstrous out, netting a collective $150,000 in bonuses.

In 2020, in addition to winning a league-leading seven Unleash The Beast events and 16 rounds, Leme went a torrid 44-for-65 covering a head-turning 67.69% of the planet’s rankest bovine athletes.

In the league’s 27-year history, Leme is the 19th different rider – and seventh Brazilian – to claim the PBR World Champion gold buckle. His title is the eleventh time a rider from the nation of Brazil has won what’s been called the most difficult individual championship in professional sports.

After entering the 2020 PBR World Finals 0.03 points behind the regular season’s No. 1 bull Chiseled (Flinn/D&H Cattle Co.), Smooth Operator (Dakota Rodeo/Julie Rosen/Clay Struve/Chad Berger) delivered two commanding outs inside the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys to win his second consecutive YETI PBR World Champion Bull title and $100,000 bonus.

In Round 1, Smooth Operator overtook the lead in the race amongst the league’s bovine athletes when he bucked off Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil) in 3.57 seconds to earn a 46-point bull score. He then cemented his victory in besting veteran rider Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Oklahoma) in 2.6 seconds in the championship round to earn a 46.25-point bull score.

Ten-year-old Smooth Operator is now the oldest two-time World Champion Bull in league history, and the sixth animal athlete ever to win the honor in multiple seasons. He joins the elite club which includes two-time PBR World Champion Bulls Dillinger (Herrington Cattle Co.) and Bones (Teague Bucking Bulls), and three-time PBR World Champion Bulls Little Yellow Jacket (Berger/Teague/Taupin), Bushwacker (Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls) and SweetPro’s Bruiser (D&H Cattle Co./Buck Cattle Co.).

Smooth Operator concluded the 2020 season 0.10 points ahead of runner-up Chiseled with a 46.13-point world average.

Smooth Operator also tied with I’m Busted (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Ken Barnhardt) for the 2020 PBR Bull of the World Finals. I’m Busted also posted 46.25 and 46-point scores, compliments of his 6.09-second and 4.95-second buckoffs of Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) in Round 1 and the championship round, respectively.

On an evening of competition when his bulls were dominant, Chad Berger was crowned the 2020 PBR Stock Contractor of the Year for an unprecedented tenth time, including the past seven consecutive seasons.

Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada) was awarded the Glen Keeley Award for the fourth consecutive year. This award goes to the Canadian bull rider earning the most points during the season.

The final day of the 2020 PBR World Finals also held the last day of action for the inaugural $750,000 Women’s Rodeo World Championship.

In breakaway roping, 18-year-old Madison Outhier (Utopia, Texas) was the undeniable star of the discipline, delivering what would be the most groundbreaking performance of the event. As the quickest athlete to earn a qualified time, her 2.05-second effort elevated her to a $60,000 payday.

Fans can relive all the action from the 2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast on demand on RidePass at 8:00 a.m. ET on Monday, November 16. RidePass is available at RidePass.com or via the RidePass app available on iOS, Android and Roku.

2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast

AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas

Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Round 5-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

  1. Boudreaux Campbell, 88-89.25-90-0-90.75-358.00-710 Points.
  2. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-91-90-0-93.75-274.75-485 Points.
  3. Marco Eguchi, 0-88.75-83.25-84.75-91-347.75-445.5 Points.
  4. Cole Melancon, 0-88.75-0-88.5-92.25-269.50-265 Points.
  5. Eduardo Aparecido, 91.5-89-0-87.5-0-268.00-246.5 Points.
  6. Jose Vitor Leme, 87.5-83.25-95.75-0-0-266.50-231.5 Points.
  7. Derek Kolbaba, 92.75-0-90.75-0-0-183.50-150 Points.
  8. Cody Teel, 87.5-88.25-88.5-0-0-264.25-130 Points.
  9. Cooper Davis, 82.75-0-87.75-89.25-0-259.75-117 Points.
  10. Jess Lockwood, 0-0-0-91-0-91.00-100 Points.
  11. Silvano Alves, 85.25-87.25-0-0-86.75-259.25-76 Points.
  12. Daylon Swearingen, 0-88.5-0-90.25-0-178.75-75.5 Points.
  13. Tye Chandler, 89.5-88.5-0-0-0-178.00-69.5 Points.
  14. Ryan Dirteater, 0-88.25-91-0-0-179.25-66.5 Points.
  15. Dalton Kasel, 0-0-87.5-89-0-176.50-46 Points.
  16. Alex Cerqueira, 0-89-0-0-0-89.00-42.5 Points.
  17. Mason Taylor, 89.25-0-0-0-0-89.25-40 Points.
  18. Kyler Oliver, 0-0-90-0-0-90.00-35 Points.
  19. Joao Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-88.5-0-88.50-32.5 Points.

(tie). Dakota Louis, 89-0-0-0-0-89.00-32.5 Points.

(tie). Brock Radford, 89-0-0-0-0-89.00-32.5 Points.

  1. Kaique Pacheco, 87-84.25-84.5-0-0-255.75-32 Points.
  2. Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-88.25-0-88.25-25 Points.

(tie). J.B. Mauney, 0-0-89.75-0-0-89.75-25 Points.

  1. Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-89-0-0-89.00-17.5 Points.

(tie). Taylor Toves, 0-0-89-0-0-89.00-17.5 Points.

  1. Luciano De Castro, 83.75-85.5-0-0-0-169.25-9 Points.
  2. Alex Cardozo, 0-87.5-0-0-0-87.50-6 Points.
  3. Brennon Eldred, 0-83.75-0-0-0-83.75-2 Points.

João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Colten Jesse, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Fabiano Vieira, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Matt Triplett, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Aaron Kleier, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Amadeu Campos Silva, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Marcus Mast, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Cody Casper, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Bradley Brittain, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Cody Campbell, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Andre da Cruz de Souza, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

2020 PBR World Standings

(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)

  1. Jose Vitor Leme, 43, 17, 25, 1,573.00, $1,601,931.57
  2. João Ricardo Vieira, 31, 4, 13, 916.91, $277,740.85
  3. Boudreaux Campbell, 20, 2, 7, 850.66, $471,671.36
  4. Marco Eguchi, 26, 3, 12, 700.25, $198,644.87
  5. Jess Lockwood, 21, 1, 10, 696.00, $275,558.74
  6. Kaique Pacheco, 31, 1, 10, 685.50, $153,803.77
  7. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 27, 3, 10, 685.00, $299,217.38
  8. Cooper Davis, 27, 4, 17, 679.00, $175,826.25
  9. Daylon Swearingen, 45, 4, 13, 678.66, $273,056.48
  10. Cole Melancon, 36, 2, 7, 579.50, $313,791.07
  11. Lucas Divino, 33, 2, 11, 571.50, $155,998.53
  12. Eduardo Aparecido, 24, 0, 5, 557.50, $160,383.78
  13. Derek Kolbaba, 42, 4, 11, 516.00, $164,244.93
  14. Colten Jesse, 43, 4, 12, 472.00, $130,471.29
  15. Mason Taylor, 38, 3, 9, 462.75, $144,899.94
  16. Cody Teel, 27, 0, 4, 386.25, $147,177.88
  17. Dener Barbosa, 18, 2, 7, 352.41, $93,548.60
  18. Ezekiel Mitchell, 38, 1, 6, 351.50, $84,722.55
  19. Alex Cerqueira, 29, 1, 6, 302.00, $74,822.26
  20. Silvano Alves, 38, 1, 5, 273.00, $72,171.95
  21. Brennon Eldred, 30, 1, 4, 259.50, $77,691.38
  22. Fabiano Vieira, 23, 3, 6, 258.50, $52,703.97
  23. Ramon de Lima, 20, 1, 2, 248.16, $90,862.79
  24. Matt Triplett, 30, 3, 8, 241.50, $126,996.48
  25. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 38, 4, 11, 221.83, $63,920.90
  26. Andrew Alvidrez, 32, 2, 7, 217.66, $63,434.11
  27. Aaron Kleier, 31, 4, 13, 214.83, $49,861.58
  28. J.B. Mauney, 10, 0, 4, 209.00, $43,708.02
  29. Stetson Lawrence, 34, 1, 8, 203.00, $75,945.93
  30. Tye Chandler, 12, 1, 3, 192.83, $55,556.67
  31. Ryan Dirteater, 16, 0, 6, 186.50, $86,061.41
  32. Claudio Montanha Jr., 23, 0, 3, 185.00, $53,422.84
  33. Joao Henrique Lucas, 33, 1, 4, 184.41, $42,800.37
  34. Dakota Buttar, 20, 6, 11, 170.00, $55,309.65
  35. Lachlan Richardson, 19, 4, 9, 166.00, $52,577.61
  36. Taylor Toves, 28, 1, 3, 157.50, $56,030.35
  37. Kyler Oliver, 13, 2, 5, 151.00, $38,989.25
  38. Dakota Louis, 40, 1, 7, 135.50, $52,437.23
  39. Brock Radford, 28, 2, 9, 124.66, $35,406.25
  40. Dalton Kasel, 12, 0, 3, 117.50, $33,101.11
  41. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 25, 1, 6, 106.00, $31,043.02
  42. Amadeu Campos Silva, 34, 0, 4, 104.66, $31,425.29
  43. Junior Patrik Souza, 32, 0, 5, 104.50, $26,817.17
  44. Alex Cardozo, 18, 0, 4, 102.33, $18,584.63
  45. Marcus Mast, 40, 0, 7, 99.16, $34,598.99