The trials went down on Tuesday in solid surf with a 32-man field battling to earn the final two spots into the Billabong Pipe Masters.

The morning started out with classic Pipeline conditions, only to see it deteriorate throughout the day, with contest directors eventually calling off the final heat to wait for more ideal conditions.

Perennial Pipeline standout and 2004 champion Jamie O’Brien knows the break better than anyone and surfed through every condition it could throw at him on his way to advancing to the final.

"First thing in the morning the waves were pretty good — it wasn’t bad Pipeline, but it wasn’t all-time. It was right in the middle, probably a seven out of 10," O’Brien said. "There were some great rides and it was a little bit more north than normal, but it made for some fun waves to drop in behind the peak and it was fun."

O’Brien’s first heat saw him post two huge scores to give him the highest combined heat total of the day of an 18.40 (out of 20), as well as the second highest single-waves score of the day of a 9.57 (out of 10).

O’Brien trailed in his last heat with a few minutes remaining, needing a score of a 0.90 to advance. He ended up catching a small left and blasted two backside snaps good for a 2.43, which put him into second behind Reef Mcintosh.

Maui’s Hank Gaskell posted the second highest heat total of the day of a 15.50 in his quarterfinal heat by threading two perfect barrels on the rights at Backdoor.

Haleiwa’s Joel Centeio posted the event’s only perfect 10.

Competition will resume on the next day of quality waves, which will start with the trials final featuring O’Brien, Mcintosh, Gaskell and Makai McNamara, followed by the main event. The call is made daily at 8 a.m.