BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
With one month left in the regular season, Shad Mayfield is poised to enter the NFR in the same position he did in 2020 - No. 1 in the world.
That year, Mayfield accrued a lead of almost $100,000 during the regular season, only to almost be chased down by Marty Yates, Cory Solomon and Shane Hanchey.
If Mayfield wants to add another Gold Buckle in 2022, he will need to fend off that trio along with three-time World Champion Caleb Smidt, four-time World Champion Tuf Cooper and 2019 World Champion Haven Meged, all of whom are ranked in the Top 10 in the PRCA World Standings.
1. Shad Mayfield, $171,729
Mayfield hit the road hard in August and last weekend, he brought in checks of more than $4,000 at the Kitsap Stampede (Washington) and Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo (California). Including Kitsap, Mayfield won four rodeos in August as he was also victorious at the XIT Rodeo (Texas), Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo and Lawton Rangers Rodeo (Oklahoma). All four wins paid more than $3,000.
2. John Douch, $151,548
After some tough stretches to begin the summer, Douch got back on track in August by winning around $25,000. He performed well at some of the month’s biggest rodeos, winning a round at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo (Oregon), Caldwell Night Rodeo (Idaho) and Horse Heaven Round-Up (Washington). Douch has already set career-highs in 7.5-second or faster runs and 8.5-second or faster runs and will likely do the same in average time and Go-Round wins.
3. Caleb Smidt, $146,648
After chasing him down and passing him last month, Smidt has slipped back behind Douch after collecting about $12,000 in August due to a limited schedule. Smidt only competed at six rodeos total, taking two weeks off between Lawton and Rancho Mission Viejo. The seven-time NFR qualifier has the best qualified time percentage of his career at 86 percent this year.
4. Haven Meged, $131,728
This season has been the busiest and one of the best of Meged’s short, but productive career. He will likely finish 2022 with more attempts, qualified times and runs faster than 8.5 seconds than any year of his career. Recently, Meged was sub-8.5 twice, an 8.4 for fifth at the Golden Spike Rodeo (Utah) on Aug. 27 and 7.8 to take second at the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo (Montana) on Aug. 20.
5. Tuf Cooper, $123,920
After going three weeks without a check, Cooper won two rodeos and placed fifth in another over the Weekend of Aug. 28 to win about $5,500.
6. Zack Jongbloed, $121,883
Two-event cowboy Zack Jonbloed has fully committed to tie-down roping down the stretch and with checks of more than $1,000 at seven different rodeos in August, that choice will probably land him at his first NFR.
7. Shane Hanchey, $120,520
Hanchey cashed in big over the weekend by pulling $9,287 for first place at the one-head Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo. He had made about $7,500 in August prior to that, but with one 8.3-second run, he was able to finish the month exactly where he started at No. 7.
8. Tyler Milligan, $118,339
Last weekend, Milligan won the Golden Spike Rodeo (Utah) and the Horse Heaven Round-Up to earn Timed Event Athlete of the Week honors. The two-time NFR qualifier banked a little over $20,000 in August and had three Go-Round wins to bring his career high from 10 (in 2020) to 13.
9. Cory Solomon, $116,462
After winning the Dodge City Roundup (Kansas) on Aug. 7, Solomon only pulled three checks for the rest of the month.
10. Marty Yates, $109,800
Yates has made most of his money in August between Aug. 11 and Aug. 20. In those 10 days, he received a payday of $1,000 or more on 5-of-7 runs and won the Moses Lake Round-Up (Washington), which came with $4,600 in prize money. Yates has made eight consecutive NFRs.
11. Ty Harris, $105,671
Each of the last two weekends, Harris has made more than $5,600. From Aug. 18-20, he won $2,973 at the Moses Lake Round-Up and $4,124 at the Gooding Pro Rodeo (Idaho). After that, he won $2,843 at the Horse Heaven Round-Up and $2,933 at the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo.
12. Riley Webb, $97,269
Webb is the highest ranked rookie tie-down roper and has moved up four spots in August. Some highlights from the past month include $5,377 at the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo, $3,697 at the Kitsap Stampede, $4,434 at the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo, $3,836 at the Caldwell Night Rodeo, $5,637 at the Canby Rodeo. Webb had five runs of 7.6 seconds or faster in August.
13. Hunter Herrin, $97,239
After making a charge up the leaderboard in July, Herrin has stayed put just outside of the NFR bubble in August. He won over $3,000 at the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo, Caldwell Night Rodeo and Farm-City Pro Rodeo.
14. Kincade Henry, $91,712
For the last two years, Henry has spent virtually the entire summer on the bubble. The 20-year-old has held on to his No. 14 spot through the month of August by placing at nine rodeos. Henry greatly improved his qualified time percentage, going from 64 percent in 2021 to 81 percent in 2022.
15. Macon Murhpy, $90,073
Murphy has gotten progressively better every year of his career. He finished No. 46 in 2020 and No. 33 in 2021 and now, the 23-year-old is in a heated race for his first NFR. In August, Murphy won the Yellowstone River Round-Up and the Caldwell Night Rodeo.
16. Taylor Santos, $87,272
Santos famously criss-crossed the country in the season’s final weekend last year and may need to do it again. He has shuffled between No. 15 and 16 since winning the NFR Open in the middle of July.
17. Cooper Martin, $83,033
Martin won four checks of $1,000 or more, but just won more than $2,000 in August and it dropped the three-time NFR qualifier from 13th to 17th.
18. Lane Livingston, $75,161
Livingston is about $2,000 away from passing his highest-earning season ever, which was in 2019. This year, he has 19 runs 8.5 seconds or faster on 111 attempts, compared to 11 runs of 8.5 seconds or faster on 180 attempts over the previous two seasons.
19. Adam Gray, $69,879
At 38, Adam Gray is the oldest cowboy in the NFR mix and although he’s about $20,000 out of 15th, he proved you can’t count him out just yet by winning $7,821 on a single run at the Ranch Mission Viejo Rodeo last weekend.
20. Riley Pruitt, $67,737
After winning about $3,500 for the first 17 days of the month, Pruitt closed August strong by winning more than $8,000 the final 14 days.