BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
After the Texas Swing concluded in April, Keenan Hayes stood above the rest of the PRCA with a $20,000 lead. He never relinquished it. In fact, he won the World Title by more than $100,000, becoming the first rookie bareback rider to ever to do so in the process.
“I was just worried about getting my hand ready and just let the ride take care of itself and it ended up working out,” Hayes told ProRodeo.com. “We knew what it was (being the first rookie to win the bareback world championship), I didn’t want to think about it too much, I just knew I had to get the job done.
Setting a regular season earnings record along the way, Hayes finished the 2023 season with $434,050, which ended being a single season earnings record as well, breaking the mark previously set by Clayton Biglow by about $9,000.
At his first NFR, Hayes made a total of $168,154 and added to it in style in Round 10 by winning the Go-Round with 90 points. The ride also pulled him ahead of Jess Pope to win the NFR Average by 4.5 points with 850 on 10. The Average made up $78,747 of his cash in Las Vegas.
“This is the season you dream about, throughout it all, it’s just been an amazing year,” he said. “This is the coolest rodeo I’ve ever been to by far. It’s been the funnest two weeks I could ever ask for.”
Every ride Hayes made was marked between 82.5 and 90 points and he won the Average with 850 points on 10. He was the only bareback rider to be marked at least 82.5 points on every single ride.
In the end, he was about $114,000 clear of Pope, the reigning World Champion. He entered with a lead of $103,000 on the next closest cowboy.
“Everything I have ever worked for has come to fruition, finally succeeded in accomplishing all my goals,” he said. “It’s been a lifelong deal working at this, I’m just excited to be here.”
Hayes won a total of 17 rodeos this season and won 24 Go-Rounds as well. He also set a PRCA record with 57 rides of 85 points or more.
