The Hurley Pro at Lowers got off to early start yesterday, running the whole of Round 1 and some of Round 2. Yes there were lulls. And nope there weren’t any barrels. But North America’s only stop on the world tour still witnessed a couple of golden windows of high-performance action.

Julian flairing above the lip in a high-performance Round 1 showdown.

The heat of the day came in Heat 11 of Round 1, with Julian Wilson, Miguel Pupo and John John taking turns to wow both beach and online spectators. Despite Miguel’s huge grab rail air reverse which landed him a 9.33, Julian Wilson’s form on both the lefts and rights saw him through to a total score of 17.40 and eventual heat winner.

Miguel’s 9.33

“That heat felt good and I knew it was going to be a hard heat,” Wilson said. “When I saw the ratings after Tahiti I knew I’d have a Round 1 rematch from the last event. I’d been thinking about it for the last couple of weeks and it was a good heat to win. Miguel started really strong and then a couple of good waves came. I got a good score on that left that gave me a couple of sections to hit and then I had the right.”

Earlier in the day, Jordy was another to put on a Round 1 clinic, dominating his match-up against Wilko and wildcard entry Mitch Crews from start to finish.

“Mitch and Wilko can pull off anything at anytime and I had the curse of the 7s, but I had a fun surf,” Jordy said. “I was pretty bummed because my leash plug pulled out on this little left, but luckily my board didn’t go all the way to shore. I lucked in to a couple of sets though and I had a good time. It doesn’t look like we have a ton of waves coming our way, but what we have today is really fun and contestable.”

Finally, Kelly fell short in Round 1 (as did Parko) but later beat Dane in a wave starved but crucial Round 2 heat.

“There was definitely a bit of pressure in that heat because Mick (Fanning) has good results and Joel (Parkinson) has a few bad results,” Slater said. “I also don’t have anything to throw away and Mick has all keepers. Also, Jordy (Smith) is every bit in this race so it was important to me to get out of that one.”

For Video Highlights, head over to the Hurley Pro site.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 1 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Nat Young (USA) 14.20, Fred Patacchia (HAW) 8.87, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 8.84
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.54, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 11.03, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.17
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.77, Mitch Crews (AUS) 10.50, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 9.23
Heat 4: Travis Logie (ZAF) 12.26, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.70, Nathan Yeomans (USA) 11.67
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.50, Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.00, Ian Crane (USA) 9.33
Heat 6: Brett Simpson (USA) 15.60, Kelly Slater (USA) 14.73, Dane Reynolds (USA) 6.93
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.94, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 15.70, Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.03
Heat 8: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 14.63, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.17, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 10.03
Heat 9: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.07, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.67, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 8.60
Heat 10: Adam Melling (AUS) 13.30, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 11.96, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.23
Heat 11: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.40, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 15.50, John John Florence (HAW) 12.97
Heat 12: Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.36, Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.50, Kai Otton (AUS) 11.57

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.67 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 10.00
Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.13 def. Ian Crane (USA) 12.74
Heat 3: Josh Kerr (AUS) 14.40 def. Nathan Yeomans (USA) 10.17
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 18.83 def. Mitch Crews (AUS) 12.90

REMAINING HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 2 MATCH UPS:
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 6: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 7: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Heat 9: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 10: Fred Patacchia (HAW) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 11: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)