Saturday night, all eyes were looking to see if Sean Willingham’s right hand still held his bull rope at the 8-second mark of what he hoped would be his third qualified ride of the Last Cowboy Standing.

What few noticed until it was under review was that the Summerville, Ga., native had inadvertently slapped Slim’s Ghost at 7.9 seconds.

That led to no score, which set up Luke Snyder’s surprising win and his $217,500 payday.

Despite coming up one-tenth of a second short of forcing a fourth round, Willingham is a big fan of the new format.

“It’s a great event,” he said afterward, “and it’ll go down in the record books. You know we have to thank Ford and all our great sponsors for being able to ride for that kind of money.”

Snyder’s check was the second largest single-day payout to the winner of a Built Ford Tough Series event ever. The total event payout of $300,000 was also the largest for a single-day event in PBR history.

Each round paid out the Top 4 spots in the average, including $4,000 for first, and all 40 riders earned $1,000 for qualifying.

“There sure enough was a lot of money on line,” Willingham said, “and it’ll sure make you hang on, where at any other event you’re liable to let go and quit trying right about 7 or 6 seconds if you’re in trouble. But when you’re riding for $200,000, you do everything you can to make that 8.”

Willingham was 2-for-3 at the Mandalay Bay Event Center.

He’s ridden in more than 200 consecutive BFTS events, and is currently ranked 13th in the world. Since making his debut in 2003, he’s earned more than $1 million, with his most financially successful season coming in 2006, when won $256,289.

Willingham, who turns 30 in May, contends he was out of position and too far up off the bull to have actually slapped his bull Saturday night, but as he has for the past nine years, he’s looking to the future for the next opportunity.

“I don’t know if we’ll do it again,” he said of the progressive-elimination format, “but I hope we do.”

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright