Florence Masters Pipe for Volcom triumph

By Lance Arinaga

Special to the Star-Advertiser

John John Florence’s mastery of Pipeline continued Saturday.

Florence captured the Volcom Pipe Pro, his third consecutive win at the event and his fourth victory at Pipeline in four years.

Florence, 20, bested Chris Ward of San Clemente, Calif.; Josh Kerr of Australia; and Hawaii’s Olomana Eleogram, who finished second to fourth place.

Florence, who grew up on the North Shore, was unstoppable. He won his first heat with four waves of nine points (out of 10) or more.

"To win three in a row, I still can’t believe it," Florence said. "It’s my home and I love it here more than anywhere in the world. It’s where I want to spend most of my time. Every time I am traveling, I can’t wait to get back."

His knowledge of the break is uncanny. On his way to the title, he surfed superbly in every condition Pipeline could throw at him, including huge 10- to 15-foot surf on the second day of the contest.

On Saturday, the waves were in the 4- to 6-foot range, with predominantly right-breaking waves in clean conditions at Backdoor.

Florence opened the final with a nice Backdoor tube ride, followed by a gouging carve on the open face. On his way back out, he picked up another wave in which he rode the barrel nearly the entire length of the wave. Just like that, he had a big lead within the first four minutes of the final.

While the other competitors paddled for anything that moved, Florence sat and waited for the wave that would seal the deal. With all of the surfers grabbing great tube rides, Florence waited for nearly 15 minutes for his next wave, a churning Backdoor barrel. The wave bent and warped, yet he contorted his body to go along with it and came out unscathed to wrap up the title.