BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
World No. 1 Jess Pope will miss the rest of the month and that has left the door open for No. 2 Cole Reiner and No. 3 Tim O’Connell, both of whom had a terrific Fourth of July.
1. Jess Pope, $121,193
Pope placed second at the World’s Oldest Rodeo (Arizona) over the Fourth of July and also placed in a round at the Greeley Stampede. On Wednesday night, Pope shared on Instagram that he would be out until August after getting injured at the Western Stampede (Utah) on July 1.
2. Cole Reiner, $92,598
Reiner went to five rodeos over the Fourth of July and placed in the Top 5 in all of them. His two biggest checks came from winning the Cody Stampede (Wyoming) and finishing second at the St. Paul Rodeo (Oregon). Those two rides made up more than $17,000 of the two-time NFR qualifier’s Cowboy Christmas winnings.
3. Tim O’Connell, $90,898
O’Connell won the Short Round at the Greeley Stampede (Colorado) on June 30 and won the World’s Oldest Rodeo over the Fourth. The three-time World Champion also placed at four other Fourth of July rodeos to be named The Cowboy Channel’s Roughstock Athlete of the Week.
4. Clayton Biglow, $85,810
Biglow won four checks of $1,800 or more over the Fourth of July the largest being $5,459 for his second place finish at Mandan Rodeo Days (North Dakota). He was also second at Oakley Independence Day Rodeo (Utah) and Mollala Buckeroo Rodeo (Oregon). Biglow has qualified for six straight NFRs.
5. Tanner Aus, $72,636
Aus made the Short Round in Greeley, but only went to two North Dakota rodeos over Cowboy Christmas.
6. R.C. Landingham, $69,103
Landingham was hot at the end of June and it continued into July as he has jumped seven spots in the PRCA World Standings over the last two weeks. Since the Reno Rodeo began on June 17, Landingham has been 85.5 points or more on 8-of-12 outs.
7. Kaycee Feild, $68,224
Feild only went to one rodeo between March 19 and June 30, but he returned “craving bucking horses” and it showed. The six-time World Champion won more than $12,000 for tying the arena record in St. Paul to win the rodeo and he was also second at the Livingston Roundup Rodeo (Montana).
8. Rocker Steiner, $66,198
Steiner placed at seven rodeos from June 15-25 and made six rides marked 86 points or higher in that stretch. Because he is continuing to work through a knee injury, he only went to two rodeos over the Fourth.
9. Garrett Shadbolt, $64,808
From June 8-25, Shadbolt placed at eight consecutive rodeos, including four wins to tally around $18,000 in 17 days. He cooled off over the Fourth, however, as he won just one check for a seventh place finish at the Western Stampede.
10. Cole Franks, $62,246
Franks won close to $6,000 over the Fourth with two-thirds coming from his third place finish at the Cody Stampede.
11. Chad Rutherford, $60,468
Rutherford has entered just one rodeo since winning the Short Round in Reno on June 25. In that time, he has moved down two spots in the World Standings.
12. Leighton Berry, $56,840
Berry finished second in two of three rounds he competed in at the Reno Rodeo ] to win the Average and earn more than $13,000 for the event. Over Cowboy Christmas, the 2020 NFR qualifier was fifth at Mandan Rodeo Days and sixth at the Home of Champions Rodeo (Montana).
13. Caleb Bennett, $50,932
Bennett only went to three rodeos over the Fourth, but made the most of them. The nine-time NFR qualifier won Mandan with an 88 point ride on Sippin Firewater and was third at the Killdeer Mountain Roundup (North Dakota) with an 87. He brought in around $10,000 total for the weekend.
14. Wyatt Denny, $47,180
Denny went without a check in the two Fourth of July rodeos he entered, but the week prior he won the Flagstaff Pro Rodeo (Arizona) and also finished fifth at West of the Pecos Rodeo (Texas).
15. Ty Breuer, $45,116
The North Dakota man made the most of getting rodeo in his home state over Cowboy Christmas by finishing second in Killdeer and third in Mandan. Both of those rodeos paid more than $3,000. Dating back to June 15, Breuer has won a check of 13-of-14 rides.
16. Jayco Roper, $44,221
Roper had a huge Fourth of July weekend by winning all three rodeos entered. He was the champion in Killdeer, Oakley City and Livingston. All three rides were between 87.5 and 88.5 points and all three earned him over $4,000.
17. Mason Clements, $43,292
Mason Clements struggled over the Fourth of July as he went 3-for-6 and did not win a check on any of his qualified rides.
18. Tilden Hooper, $42,425
Hooper was second at the Cody Stampede with 88 points on Meat Cracker. The bad news is that was his only check over Fourth of July weekend, but the good news is that it was $6,486.
19. Jacob Lees, $38,314
Lees was the champion of the Eugene Pro Rodeo (Oregon) and the Home of Champions Rodeo over the Fourth. He also picked up checks in St. Paul, Mandan and Prescott. Overall, 5-of-7 rides were marked 83 points or higher for the Idaho cowboy last week.
20. Orin Larsen, $34,665
Due to an injury, Larsen has not competed since June 15. He has qualified for seven straight NFRs.
STANDINGS VIA PRORODEO.COM ARE ACCURATE AS OF JULY 7, 2022 AT 3:30 PM ET.