Snedecor Crowned Steer Roping World Champion by $1.67

Scott Snedecor, of Uvalde, Texas, won the 2005 steer roping title after winning $1.67 more than runner-up Guy Allen over the course of the season. There has never been a world title, in any event, determined by such a close margin that wasn’t a tie. In 1975, Tom Ferguson and Leo Camarillo tied for the world all-around title. In 1976, one of the three years world champions were determined by NFR earnings, Mel Hyland and Monty Henson tied for the saddle bronc title. In addition, numerous team roping world titles were split before the PRCA began awarding the header and heeler separately. Previously, the closest non-split world title margin came in 1975 when Bobby Berger won the saddle bronc riding title by $5 over Tom Miller. The previous closest margin in the steer roping was $85 in 1990 between champion Phil Lyne and runner-up Guy Allen.

“It is a great feeling to be a world champion,” Snedecor said. “Someone told me it didn’t matter if it was $1 or $10 million, a win is a win, but it sure came down to the wire.”

Snedecor, of Uvalde, Texas, who entered his fifth consecutive NFSR $16,148 behind Allen, won a round, placed in six others and won the average with a total time of 123.4 seconds on 10-head en route to his first world title at the 47th annual NFSR. This year’s event featured a $130,000 payoff and ran Nov. 18-20 at the Amarillo National Center in Amarillo, Texas.

“I went at the Finals knowing I had a shot, a tough shot, but I knew I had a shot,” said Snedecor, who was riding his new 12-year-old sorrel horse Sunny Dee Bueno that he bought in September. “I had a lot of confidence in my roping and in my new horse.

“Guy’s my hero, and my hat’s off to him. He is a great competitor and a great winner. He came and thanked me and told me congratulations when it was all over. He kept telling me it was coming, as did everyone else, who said I would win the title some day. I was beginning to think that day would never come, but it finally did.”