Why would you want to get rid of Margaret River? Today it delivered one the greatest days in pro surfing, ever. You can rubbish the wave all you like but at 12-15 foot, Mainbreak is a real equaliser. It’ll reveal all your vulnerabilities and if you have balls.
After Jack Freestone slapped Slater out of the event the in the first heat of the morning, the drama continued to flow. Miguel Pupo would have rather been somewhere else today. He was flung out of the lip like a dirty banana peel and barely registered a score. Julian wore a 20-footer on the head. You could almost see the Reaper’s teeth in the wave’s face as it mowed him down. He went on to win the heat with some world title calibre surfing and backed it up with some more in round 4.
Owen Wright looked beat against Ian Gouveia. The Brazilian–Costanza body double, proved to be a real contender, throwing himself down elevator shaft drops reckless abandon. Wright displayed resilience under pressure and took the win on his final wave. All doubt of Wright’s yellow jersey status seemingly blown out to the Indian Ocean with his final backside snap. His commanding victory in round 4 was something else. He put his board in the tightest of pockets and projected out of the lip like a rocket going into orbit. Momentum is on Owen’s side and if survives to finals day we will all be wondering if the final chapter in his fairy tale comeback finishes with a world title.
John John’s back up waves would have defeated Jacob Willcox today. No disrespect to the West Australian, he fought valiantly against the Hawaiian. However, he was simply outclassed by Florence’s brazen attack at in the conditions he lives for. No one extends and flexes their turns like John. He carves where others are running for the shoulder. You have to wonder whether anyone can beat him here. He posted four nine-point ride over rounds 3 and 4, posting the two highest heat total of the event. If conditions continue to mimic big Sunset, Haleiwa or Pupukea the rest of the tour might as well go home.
Let’s quickly talk about Jordy Smith. The big Saffa only caught a couple of waves against Jesse Mendes in round 3. A pair of 6s—nothing fancy just contained power surfing. The arcs were nice and big and his sheer size helped him look in control in the victory at sea conditions. But it won’t be good enough to win here. If he can unleash his power, control his mind and get out of his road and just surf this might be start of a genuine world title run.
