BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
Between 2012 and 2019, Buddy Hawkins made two NFRs. Beginning in 2020, he teamed up with Andrew Ward and he is now made four in a row, winning the 2021 Average title along the way.
In 2023, he is the No. 9 ranked heeler entering the big show, but he is only about $60,000 out of first place.
BIGGEST PAYDAYS
Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, $26,200
Hawkins won Fort Worth for the third time in his career this season and Andrew Ward marked the third different partner he has done it with. They won both the Second Semifinal and the Finals with runs of 4.8 and 3.9 seconds respectively.
San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, $8,500
Hawkins won San Antonio a decade ago and made the Finals on the 10-year anniversary of that win in 2023. He and Ward once again won their Semifinal to advance.
FASTEST RUNS
Snake River Stampede (Idaho), 4.1 Seconds
Ward/Hawkins had good luck in Nampa for the second straight year as they entered the defending champions. Their fastest run of the summer got them seventh in Round 2, but more importantly helped them to fifth in the Average, which paid more than $3,000.
Durant Pro Rodeo (Oklahoma), 4.1 Seconds
On June 3, Ward/Hawkins won the Durant Pro Rodeo by just one tenth of a second to collect $1,600. They also won the Duncan Pro Rodeo in Oklahoma a month prior.
NOTABLE WINS
RAM Prairie Circuit Finals, 14.4 Seconds on Three
Hawkins, a three-time RAM National Circuit Finals (now NFR Open) Champion, is no stranger to big money in Circuit Finals events. In October of 2022, he and Ward won $7,358 toward the 2023 regular season by winning the Average at the Prairie Circuit Finals. The pair won the RNCFR in 2021, but this was the first actual Circuit Finals victory together.
Red Bluff Round-Up (California), 27.0 Seconds on Four
Ward/Hawkins made about $8,500 for the rodeo and won the Average by 1.4 seconds. It is the second straight year they’ve won a PRCA Playoff Series Rodeo in California after winning Clovis in 2022.
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