CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The last two years have been a grind for Tim O’Connell.

The three-time PRCA World Champion Bareback Rider (2016-18) suffered a tear in his left groin on the tail end of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s undergone four surgeries on his hips and done everything possible to get back on the PRORODEO trail.

O’Connell returned to competition last season, but had to start from scratch to compete at rodeos and he wasn’t quite ready for the strain of a full schedule.

The Cascade, Iowa, native looked like his old self at Rodeo Corpus Christi on Thursday, though. He matched Championship Pro Rodeo’s Ranch & Co. Time for an 87-point ride to place second in the long go and qualify for Saturday’s 12-man short round at the Hilliard Center on the Corpus Christi Bay.

“It means a lot to be able to get into (Rodeo) Corpus Christi, get a big check out of here in the long round and get my season rolling,” O’Connell told the PRORODEO Sports News on Friday night after the conclusion of the final section of the long round. “Without looking at numbers, that probably puts me in the top 30 (of the PRCA | Bill Fick Ford World Standings).

Iowa’s Tim O’Connell is getting back in the swing of things. PRCA | Courtesy photoScreen_Shot_2026-05-13_at_10.02.34_PM

“I’ve only been to six or seven rodeos, and I’m getting things underneath my feet. It’s been a long two-year process to get back to this point. But I’m feeling good, feeling healthy and I’m thankful for all of the opportunities I got in the last two years as well.”

Missing action for the bulk of the last two seasons, forced the 10-time NFR qualifier and three-time NFR Average champion to essentially start over and compete at whatever rodeos he could get into – the same way Stetson Wright had to at the start of the 2025 season.

O’Connell essentially started the last two seasons behind the game. He couldn’t compete at some of the most lucrative rodeos of the winter run like the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and RodeoHouston, two rodeos that he places at the top of his list every season.

“Those are two of the rodeos that I would really like to (win) to capture pretty much all of my bucket list rodeos to win,” O’Connell said.

“I’m 34-years-old. I know where I’m at in my career as a bareback rider. It’s closer to the end than it is to the beginning. You don’t get very many chances to go back to those rodeos and compete. That was tough on the ego side of it.”

But despite the challenges of the last two seasons, O’Connell’s motivation to chase a fourth PRCA World Championship and further pad his hall of fame resume hasn’t waned.

“The motivation for me is that elusive fourth gold buckle,” he said. “I’ve been in the race a lot of times to capture that fourth one and go into some really elite company…I’ve been very close to it and I’ve always set my sights on the next world title.”

Being forced to step away from bareback riding also reinvigorated O’Connell and reminded him just how much he loves loading up in a bucking chute and squaring off with the best bucking horses in the world.

“I love getting on bucking horses. I love getting into a fight with a bucking horse. I love conquering these animals,” O’Connell said. “And I’m starting to learn how to take the small wins even in a defeating ride. My expectations have to be a little different. You don’t get better at something by not doing it and I didn’t get to do it for two years.”

O’Connell’s opening trip in Corpus Christi may have been just what the doctor ordered to get his PRORODEO season kicked into full gear. And the horse he paired up with proved serendipitous.

Ranch & Co. Time is a special horse for O’Connell. His brother Will O’Connell is the General Manager of Championship Pro Rodeo and purchased the NFR bucking horse, formerly named Tequila Time, from Burch Rodeo Company.

Will then gave Tim and his wife, Sami, the opportunity to name two horses and a bull after their business, Ranch & Co. Interiors. 

Since his return from injury, Tim O’Connell doesn’t typically compete if his draw isn’t suitable for picking up a check and he made sure to make the trip to the Coastal Bend when he saw which horse was next to his name on Thursday’s daysheet.

“I’ve seen that horse for a very long time, even when Burch owned him,” O’Connell said. “(And I watched him) when Will brought that horse to the NFR in the hopper pen. I was really excited. I knew it was a big chance.”

The short round of Rodeo Corpus Christi commences at 6 p.m. (CT) on Saturday at the Hilliard Center. The rodeo is available to stream on the Cowboy Channel Plus App.

–PRCA