Finalists : photo ASP Rowland/Covered Images

O'Neill World Cup of Surfing

ASP WQS 6 Star Prime Men's Event
Sunset Beach Oahu Hawaii
25 November - 6 December 2007

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc 

Florida's C.J. Hobgood Wins O'Neill World Cup of Surfing at 10- to 15-Foot Sunset Beach

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 4 December, 2008 : - - Sunset Beach, Hi -- Florida's C.J. Hobgood, 29, won the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing today in clean 20- to 30-foot wave face heights, making Hobgood the first goofy-footer in 11 years to win at Sunset Beach.

Australia's Michael Romelese was the last goofy-foot to win at Sunset in 1997, he also won the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title the same year. On his backhand, Hobgood, who was the 2001 ASP World Champ, charged his way to victory, gnabbing the biggest wave of the 35-minute final. Hobgood was blown away by his first place finish and the massive waves.

"It's perfect size and really clean. There was probably one or two sets a heat that were too big," Hobgood said. "Just some macking nuts waves out there. "My usual experience out at Sunset is just getting worked pretty much. This ranks up there with my WT wins and everything else because I never totally pictured myself winning this contest so it ranks that much higher.

"That just shows you what Sunset can do.  You just roll the dice, go out and sometimes Mother Nature is good to you and other times it just beats you down. "There's four guys out there, but you never really see your competitors the whole time. It's Man versus Nature out there and that's what makes Sunset so challenging and appealing."

CJ Hobgood : photo ASP Cestari/Covered Images

Hobgood avoided Sunset's wrath and negotiated the giant walls of water beautifully, scoring an 8.5 and 6.5 rides to win the 6-Star Qualifying Series Event. Australia's Tom Whitaker, 29, also surfed well in the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing and finished runner-up. Whitaker was in awe of the quality of surf Sunset Beach produced today/

"It's pretty much as dreamy as Sunset gets it's beautifully clean and really, really good sized," Whitaker said. "It's not too big and scary. It was just beautiful all day and I think I saw some of the best waves I've ever seen at Sunset. And, for the final day of the tournament to run in such good conditions it was really cool."

Sunset Beach local Marcus Hickman, 29, finished behind Whitaker in third place. He fell victim to poor wave selection, yet this was Hickman's best Vans Triple Crown of Surfing performance to date.

South Africa's Jordy Smith, 20, finished in fourth place and never got in rhythm, breaking his board and injuring his right leg in the final. Smith has never finished lower than the quarterfinals at Sunset and this was his second finals appearance at the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing.

Smith posted a 10-point ride earlier today in the round of 32 by getting a tube. He also posted the highest heat score of the contest a 18.50 out of a possible 20 in the same round. The top Brazilian finishers today were Leandro Bastos and Rodrigo Dornelles. Both were eliminated in fourth place in their respective heats in the round of 32, placing equal 25th overall.

Tom Whitaker : photo ASP Cestari/Covered Images

Europe's highest finisher was Eric Rebiere (France), who placed third in his heat in the round of 32 to finish equal 17th overall. After today, Dusty Payne (HAW) is ranked first for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing overall title. This year's O'Neill World Cup of Surfing Champion C.J. Hobgood(USA) is second and Joel Parkinson (AUS) is in third. All three surfers will be competing at the Billabong Pipeline Masters.

The Noseguard Rookie of the Year Award for the top performing rookie of the Vans Triple Crown series was awarded today to Australia's Yadin Nicol, 23, who enjoyed an exceptional run here at Sunset Beach, finishing 9th place today.  Nicol narrowly missed qualifying for the 2009 World Tour at Sunset Beach today. The O'Neill World Cup of Surfing is the last event of the 2008 Qualifying Series (QS) season.

The following QS surfers have all qualified for the 2009 World Tour (WT):

Nathaniel Curran (USA),
Chris Davidson (AUS),
Michel Bourez (PYF),
Gabe Kling (USA),
Jihad Khodr (BRA),
Josh Kerr (AUS),
Nic Muscroft (AUS),
David Weare (ZAF),
Kekoa Bacalso (HAW),
Tim Boal (FRA),
Greg Emslie (ZAF),
Dustin Barca (HAW),
Tiago Pires (BRA),
Phillip MacDonald (AUS), 
Drew Courtney (AUS).

Depending on Tiago Pires' performance at the Billabong Pipeline Masters, Marlon Lipke (DEU) may qualify for the 2009 World Tour.

Marcus Hickman : photo ASP Cestari/Covered Images

The third and final jewel of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing - the Billabong Pipeline Masters, begins its holding period on Monday, December 8. The women's Vans Triple Crown will culminate on Maui with the Billabong Pro, also starting December 8.

The $815,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing consists of the Reef Hawaiian Pro, Haleiwa, Nov. 12-23 (6* WQS, men and women), the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, Sunset Beach, Nov.24-Dec.6 (6*WQS men), The Roxy Pro, Sunset Beach, Nov.24-Dec.6 (WCT women), the Billabong Pipeline Masters (men), Pipeline, Dec. 8-20 (WCT); and the Billabong Pro Maui (women), Honolua Bay, Maui, Dec. 8-20 (WCT).

In addition to $815,000 in prize money, which includes a $10,000 bonus for both the men's and women's Vans Triple Crown champions, the men's champion will also receive a custom, one-of-a-kind Nixon tide watch featuring over two-carats of diamonds and valued at over $10,000.

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is made possible by support of the following partners:  Event Sponsors: REEF, O'NEILL, ROXY, BILLABONG. Official Energy Drink: Rock Star Official Airline: Hawaiian Airlines Official Lodging: Turtle Bay resort Official Timing: Nixon Official Media: Surfing Magazine Official Car Rental: Advantage Webcast Powered By: Wetsand TV Partners: Fuel TV & Rush HD Media Support: The Honolulu Advertiser Connectivity Powered by: RoadRunner Auto Support: JN Chevrolet Official Water: Hawaiian Springs Water

FINAL:
1st- CJ Hobgood (US) 15.00 (8.5 and 6.5) $15, 000
2nd- Tom Whitaker (Aus) 12.67 (7.67 and 5.00) $7,500
3rd- Marcus Hickman (HI) 8.33 (6.33 and 2.00) $4,500
4th- Jordy Smith (Zaf) 2.86 (1.73 and 1.13) $4,400

SEMIFINALS:
H1: CJ Hobgood (US), Marcus Hickman (HI), Dusty Payne (HI), Mick Fanning (Aus)
H2: Jordy Smith (Zaf), Tom Whitaker (Aus), Joel Parkinson (Aus), Ian Walsh (HI)

QUARTERFINALS:
H1: CJ Hobgood (US), Dusty Payne (HI), Yadin Nicol (Aus), Rhys Bombaci (Aus)
H2: Mick Fanning (Aus), Marcus Hickman (HI), David Weare (SAf), Torrey Meister (HI)
H3: Jordy Smith (SAf), Joel Parkinson (Aus), Kamalei Alexander (HI), Bede Durbidge (Aus)
H4: Tom Whitaker (Aus), Ian Walsh (HI), Greg Emslie (SAf), Dion Atkinson (Aus)

ROUND OF 32:
H1: CJ Hobgood (US), Marcus Hickman (HI), Damien Hobgood (US), Leandro Bastos (Brz)
H2: Dusty Payne (HI), Mick Fanning (Aus), Hank Gaskell (HI), Dane Gudauskas (CA)
H3: Torrey Meister (HI), Rhys Bombaci (Aus), Taj Burrow (Aus), Kai Otton (Aus)
H4: David Weare (SAf), Yadin Nicol (Aus), Chris Davidson (Aus), Rodrigo Dornelles (Brz)
H5: Jordy Smith (SAf), Dion Atkinson (SAf), Patrick Gudauskas (CA), Drew Courtney
H6: Bede Durbidge (Aus), Tom Whitaker (Aus), Nic Muscroft (Aus), Adrian Buchan (Aus)
H7: Ian Walsh (HI), Kamalei Alexander (HI), Eric Rebiere (Fra), Kirk Flintoff (Aus)
H8: Greg Emslie (SAf), Joel Parkinson (Aus), Josh Kerr (Aus), Phillip MacDonald (Aus)

Check the Full Results

About Triple Crown of Surfing:
The $815,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing consists of the Reef Hawaiian Pro, Haleiwa, Nov. 12-23 (6* WQS, men and women), the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, Sunset Beach, Nov.24-Dec.6 (6*WQS men), The Roxy Pro, Sunset Beach, Nov.24-Dec.6 (WCT women), the Billabong Pipeline Masters (men), Pipeline, Dec. 8-20 (WCT); and the Billabong Pro Maui (women), Honolua Bay, Maui, Dec. 8-20 (WCT). In addition to $815,000 in prize money, which includes a $10,000 bonus for both the men's and women's Vans Triple Crown champions, the men's champion will also receive a custom, one-of-a-kind Nixon tide watch featuring over two-carats of diamonds and valued at over $10,000.

About ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing's undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the Foster's ASP World Tour, the ASP Women's World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.

www.oneill.com
www.aspworldtour.com
www.triplecrownofsurfing.com

Previous reports:
# 1 : Marcus Hickman dominates O'Neill World Cup, Sunset
# 2 : Surfers battling stormy conditions at O'Neill World Cup
# 3 : O'Neill World Cup of Surfing sees 20-foot surf at Sunset

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