Andy would have been proud.

For Maui’s Dusty Payne, things were looking grim after Australia’s Julian Wilson scored two excellent waves in the Reef Hawaiian Pro final on Saturday.

Payne was in a combination situation, needing two massive scores to come back. For any competitive surfer, that is the worst situation you can be in.

With his back to the wall, Payne decided to channel his inner Andy Irons by not giving up and decided to give it everything he had.

"Julian opened up with some crazy scores and in the back of my mind, I was thinking this thing is over. Julian has got this thing locked up," Payne said. "I was sitting out the back and I looked at Adam Melling and I was like, "All right, well, he did that, let’s do this," and he looked at me like I was crazy. I got that first 9 and then there was that flurry of waves and I got another one as I was paddling back out and I just threw the kitchen sink at it."

Payne got his scores from pure power surfing and it garnered him a 19.64 heat total, which was the highest of the entire event. His win at the Reef Hawaiian Pro, which is the first event in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, gives him $40,000 and the Triple Crown lead.

"I am the happiest man in the world right now," he said. "I feel like I won the lottery. That was one of the most fun days I have ever had. The waves were so fun all day and I had a blast. It was my first win in Hawaii. It has always been a dream of mine to win at home and in front of a home crowd, in front of all my friends I grew up with. I just can’t believe I finally did it."

France’s Jeremy Flores placed third and Australia’s Adam Melling took fourth.

The Vans World Cup of Surfing, the second leg of the Triple Crown, runs at Sunset Beach, Nov. 24 through Dec. 6. The Billabong Pipe Masters, Dec. 8-20, at Banzai Pipeline at Ehukai Beach follows.