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LAS VEGAS — The first three rounds of the 2009 PBR World Finals have seen some huge story lines — J.B. Mauney came to play, Guilherme Marchi may not have, and young Pete Farley ripped off one of the biggest rides of the year. But through it all, Coloradoan Kody Lostroh has sat quietly atop the world standings, where he's been most of the season, largely avoiding the hype and media fanfare accorded several of the top contenders for the world title.

And in the 24-year old's quest for his first world championship, he wouldn't have it any other way.

"I love having the spotlight off of me," Lostroh said in a press conference following Round Three — his first of the Finals so far. "I don't know how much those other guys like it, but they seem to enjoy it more than me. I like just to show up here and do my job. Talking to reporters and stuff like that I guess comes with the territory, but it's not something I'm too good at or excited about."

But as the PBR heads into the second weekend of the World Finals and the world championship race grows ever tighter, the limelight looks to be a place where Lostroh will have to get comfortable . Sure, if the Finals ended right now J.B. Mauney would overtake him for the trophy. But with four days and five rounds of competition left, Lostroh will almost certainly have something to say about that.

He's already overcome a nagging injury to his left riding elbow that initially was supposed to sideline him for the rest of the season. He also took a bad draw in the first round here at the Finals and turned it into a score of 84 points, 42.5 of which came from the rider score. And let's not forget he's one of only four riders to have covered all three of his bulls thus far.

"I feel pretty darn good," Lostroh said. "God's really given me strength to get through the elbow deal and everything, and other than just stuff that's hurt all year, nothing's new. So I'm just going on with it and having fun."

Lostroh boasts a riding percentage of 63.33 percent, tops among all riders. He's also known for being one of the best drafters in the PBR, as evidenced by his five event wins — four of which where he scored a 90 or better in the championship round. And at least one person who should know — none other than the King of Cowboys, Ty Murray — calls Lostroh's technique "flawless."

"To me, as far as style, form and mechanics, I don't think there's anybody right now that is more perfect than Kody Lostroh," said Ty Murray in a daily Podcast he's posting throughout the World Finals at pbrnow.com. "I don't think there's anybody really even close. He's just flawless."

With Mauney closing from 785 points to only 429.25 points behind, Lostroh will need to maintain his technical perfection if he hopes to hold off the surging rider from North Carolina. But he says as far as he's concerned, the outcome of the World Finals hinges on one man alone — Kody Lostroh.

"The race is for the judges to figure out," said Lostroh. "My job is to ride my bulls."

The 2009 PBR World Finals continues with Round Four on Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center at 9 p.m. ET.

Results | World standings | Photos | Archive

Check back with ESPN.com and pbrnow.com all week long for continuing coverage of the 2009 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.

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