John John Florence put on another amazing display of tube riding Friday, dominating his competitors in 8- to 12-foot waves on the second day of the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons.
Florence, 19, of Sunset Beach, outsurfed 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and former world champ CJ Hobgood in their non-elimination fourth-round heat.
Florence scored his second perfect 10 of the Pipe Masters, and combined that with a 7.67 to easily outdistance Slater and Hobgood.
"Yeah, I am stoked," said Florence of his 10. "It was a perfect double up and in the water it looked like it had a good line to it. Yeah, it was sick. The waves keep coming in and they’re so perfect. It’s so fun being out there with three guys and I want to go on every wave."
Earlier, in Round 3, Florence put together two 9-plus waves, cruising past Damien Hobgood in a two-man heat.
He’ll need more magic if, as expected, the contest resumes today. Slater won his Round 5 heat, setting up a head-to-head matchup in the quarterfinals.
"I was nervous going into it with Kelly and CJ," Florence said. "They are so gnarly. Kelly can combo guys in 2 minutes. Growing up I looked up to guys like Kelly, CJ, Andy and Bruce (Irons), so it’s crazy to be surfing against them."
Florence leads the points race for the Vans Triple Crown, followed by Tahiti’s Michel Bourez and Australia’s Adam Melling.
Those two were matched up in Round 3. Both needed to make it out of the the heat to keep their Triple Crown hopes alive. Bourez edged Melling for the win 6.5-5.9.
"It feels good just to make that heat and still be going for the Triple Crown," Bourez said. "I know Melling is a good tube rider so it was going to be a tough heat. To win the Pipe Masters is everything. My goal right now is to go as far as I can in this competition."
The quarterfinals are set. In addition to the Florence-Slater matchup, Haleiwa’s Jamie O’Brien will take on Joel Parkinson of Australia; Bourez goes against Evan Valiere of Kauai and Kieren Perrow of Australia surfs against Gabriel Medina of Brazil.
The final day promises to be epic.
"Living here and surfing here every day, your wave selection gets really spot on," O’Brien said. "John John and me surf out here every day together. It’s our back yard and we have lots of fun out here.
"It’s wave-for-wave out here. If he gets the waves he can win, if I get the waves I can win. There is no doubt in both of our surfing abilities. You just have to be in sync with the ocean."
