CHAD MASTERS, Clarksville, Tenn.

The price of gold is quite valuable, and nobody knows that any better than the nine contestants who won ProRodeo’s world championships in 2012.

Count Chad Masters in that list. The Clarksville, Tenn., cowboy won his second PRCA gold buckle, finishing the season with $196,099. He put the bow on the world title wrapping by winning the average championship at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with partner Clay O’Brien Cooper, a seven-time world champ himself.

Masters has qualified for the NFR nine times in the last 10 years and earned his first world championship in 2007. In a career that began 12 seasons ago, he has earned more than $1.4 million. That’s pretty handy, especially for one of the greatest headers in the game.

But Masters is a pretty salty all-around hand. He’s proved that over the years inside the Lazy E Arena. Just last March, he finished eighth in the average, pocketing $3,000 in the process. He’d like to earn more cash this weekend, which is why he’s re-invested his 2012 Timed Event earnings into his 2013 entry fee.

He’d love to see that investment returned, with compound interest, of course.