O'Brien breaks through; Garcia claims sixth series
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
One Hawai'i surfer continued to rewrite surfing history, while another broke into it yesterday.
Bernie Baker • Special to The Advertiser
A few steps away from his backyard, Jamie O'Brien took a giant step into surfing lore by winning the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters for the first time yesterday.
Jamie O'Brien raced to an early lead in the final and "felt the vibes" while making it in and out of several barreling waves.
Wai'anae's Sunny Garcia placed second, but clinched an unprecedented sixth Vans Triple Crown of Surfing championship as the best overall performer in the series.
The Pipeline Masters is the third of three contests in the Triple Crown series, and the final day of the contest was completed yesterday in ideal surf of 6 to 8 feet at the Banzai Pipeline.
"I'm amazed; it was always a dream but I never thought it would come this soon," said O'Brien, 21. "The money doesn't mean anything to me. It's all about the win and getting my name on that (champion's) board."
O'Brien grew up in a house that sits right in front of the Pipeline waves, and he has been surfing there since he was in elementary school.
"This justifies living on the beach and taking that chance of making a living at surfing," said his father, Mick O'Brien. "The waves can be 1 foot or huge, but he's always out there. He's definitely worked for this day."
O'Brien's worth was put on the spot even before the contest when Rip Curl awarded him a "sponsor's exemption" into the field.
The first 44 spots in the contest were reserved for the surfers on the World Championship Tour. The other Hawai'i surfers had to battle through the trials to get in the contest.
O'Brien and Pancho Sullivan — who are both sponsored by Rip Curl — did not have to compete in the trials.
"Jamie has spent more time in the water here at Pipeline than any of the top 45," said Rip Curl's Adam Sharp. "Under the rules, we were allowed to pick two wildcards, and Jamie backed up our pick. He really put on a show."
Bernie Baker • Special to The Advertiser
O'Brien dominated an all-Hawai'i final, scoring a two-wave total of 17.97 out of 20. On his best ride, he made it through a long barrel, resulting in a near-perfect score of 9.97 (out of 10).
Sunny Garcia won a record sixth Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title.
"I was going so fast in that barrel," he said. "I said I don't know if I'm going to make this one, but it just let me out. I felt the vibes in that barrel. I just felt like the spirit was with me ... like somebody pushed me out."
He had a similar ride that resulted in a score of 8.0, giving him his total score in the first 15 minutes of the 45-minute heat. The other finalists never came close the rest of the way.
Making it more impressive, O'Brien surfed with ligament damage in his left knee. He sustained the injury last month, and missed the first event of the Triple Crown because of it.
Garcia is also recovering from a knee injury, and his latest Triple Crown title came 12 years after his first one.
"This one means a lot," Garcia said. "A lot of the surfing press kind of wrote me off ... It's hard to imagine after accomplishing so much that I have to come back and try and prove myself."
Garcia missed last year's Triple Crown while recovering from knee surgery. He won the first event of this year's Triple Crown last month at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach.
Garcia said he still is not in top shape, and endured through three heats yesterday. "I was dying in the semifinals," he said.
In the final, his top two waves received scores of 7.27 and 6.37 for a total of 13.64.
O'Brien got $30,000 for the victory. Garcia got $16,000 for second place, plus $10,000 and a new Ford Ranger truck for winning the Triple Crown.
Garcia, 34, said this year's Triple Crown championship was especially meaningful because next year could be his last on the world tour.
Kalani Robb of O'ahu's North Shore placed third and received $11,000. Kaua'i's Bruce Irons placed fourth and got $9,000.
Robb and Irons requalified for the 2005 World Championship Tour because of their performances in the Pipeline Masters.
Irons also won the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational last Wednesday.
"This last week has been intense," he said. "It's going to be a good holiday season, I know that."
Five Hawai'i surfers will compete on the 2005 World Championship Tour: three-time world champ Andy Irons, his younger brother Bruce Irons, Garcia, Robb and Fred Patacchia Jr.
Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters
Final results
1, Jamie O'Brien (Hawai'i), $30,000. 2, Sunny Garcia (Hawai'i), $16,000. 3, Kalani Robb (Hawai'i), $11,000. 4, Bruce Irons (Hawai'i), $9,000. 5 (tie), Paulo Moura (Brazil) and Cory Lopez (Florida), $8,500. 7 (tie), Tim Curran (California) and Kelly Slater (Florida), $7,500. 9 (tie), Toby Martin (Australia), Dean Morrison (Australia), Pancho Sullivan (Hawai'i) and Shane Beschen (California), $5,500. 13 (tie), Luke Egan (Australia), Mark Occhilupo (Australia), Phillip MacDonald (Australia) and C.J. Hobgood (Florida), $4,500.
Foster's Expression Session
1, Mark Healey, $1,500. 2, Rocky Canon, $750. 3, Liam McNamara, $500. 4, Aamion Goodwin, $250.
2004 World Championship Tour
Final standings
1, Andy Irons (Hawai'i), 7,824 points. 2, Joel Parkinson (Australia), 6,588. 3, Kelly Slater (Florida), 6,444. 4, C.J. Hobgood (Florida), 6,108. 5, Luke Egan (Australia), 5,760. 6, Taj Burrow (Australia), 5,724. 7, Nathan Hedge (Australia), 5,688. 8, Sunny Garcia (Hawai'i), 5,172. 9, Damien Hobgood (Florida), 5,124. 10, Peterson Rosa (Brazil), 5,076. Also: 15, Kalani Robb (Hawai'i), 4,752. 23, Bruce Irons (Hawai'i), 4,332.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
