Corder wins bull riders’ event, but can’t overtake Dunn for season title

Lisa Snedeker

Monday, Nov. 9, 1998 | 10:54 a.m.

Anyone who took a 40-to-1 chance on Reed Corder to win the 1998 Professional Bull Riders Bud Light Cup World Championship this weekend walked away from the MGM Grand Garden on Sunday night almost as happy as the new champion.

"I always knew I could do it," Corder said. "I finally proved I could."

The 23-year-old from Melvin, Texas, wound up with a total of 364 points for four rides during the three-day event and $172,200 in his pocket out of the $1.2 million purse.

"It is the greatest feeling in the world," said Corder, after what was only his second appearance in the PBR finals. "It's a dream come true."

Corder overcame Ronny Kitchens of Deadwood, Texas, to top the leader board in round four after scoring a 92.5 over Kitchen's 80 in front of more than 15,000 spectators. The pair were the only ones out of the 45 competitors to ride four bulls and both were bucked off in round five.

"I wanted to ride all five (bulls)," Corder said. "I was blessed with some real good bulls this weekend."

J.W. Hart of Gainesville, Texas, finished second with 359, followed by Chris Shivers of Jonesville, La., with 355. Kitchens ended up fourth with 332, while Cody Custer of Wickenburg, Ariz., rounded out the top five with 272.

Troy Dunn, who won the title in Las Vegas last year, heads back to his native Australia with the Bud Light world championship cup and a broken left hip.

Dunn, a native of Mackay, Australia, said he would have preferred a more dramatic win to top off the year.

"It was not very spectacular," he said of his finish. "But things worked out for me and I'm still in one piece."

Dunn was knocked out of the competition when he was injured during the first round Friday. As a result, his total points after the weekend remained the same as his total for the year: 7,994.

Dunn said he will use the next six months of rehabilitation to promote bull riding Down Under.

Shivers, 19, finished second with a year-end total of 7,121.5 narrowly overcoming Terry Don West's 7,079. Dunn's position was ensured when West, of Henryetta, Okla., who had been the closest threat to overtake him, was bucked off consecutively in rounds two and three.

Dunn rode away in a wheelchair with weekend earnings of $70,000. After Corder, the top earners were J.W. Hart with $127,500 and Shivers with $117,900, leaving him the top tour money maker with a year-end total of $300,212.

The weekend was highlighted by the presentation of the Ring of Honor award to Jerome Davis. A fund-raiser for Davis, who was paralyzed in a bull-riding accident in March, netted $405,000.

"When you've got cowboys for friends, you've got some friends," Davis said.

After four years of holding the event at the MGM, the Bud Light Cup championship moves to the Thomas & Mack Center next year.