Western Australia’s Taj Burrow has always loved coming to Hawaii for the winter surf season. Now, he’s loving it even more.

Burrow captured the Reef Hawaiian Pro on Wednesday in blustery, 2- to 4-foot surf to take the $25,000 first-place check.

His first win at Haleiwa puts him in the early lead of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

"It feels really good," Burrow said. "Winning contests is fun. I have been trying really hard and had a couple of seconds this year. To win one feels great, especially in Hawaii. Everyone is really proud to win here."

The 33-year-old Burrow beat fellow Australian Adam Melling, Brazil’s Adriano De Souza and California’s Nat Young in the final.

The quest for the Triple Crown continues with the Vans World Cup of Surfing, which has a holding period from Friday through Dec. 6, at Sunset Beach. That will be followed by the Billabong Pipe Masters (Dec. 8-20) at the Banzai Pipeline.

"I love being in Hawaii," Burrow said. "I was saying to a few of my friends, it is so good to come to Hawaii and sit and make a base for six weeks. We are getting on a plane every other weekend normally, it’s draining. Coming to Hawaii you just get in a good routine; you unpack your bags and you can kind of relax. We train and eat good food and just the whole routine of it all, I feel much better then having to skip town every two weeks."

The final started out with De Souza registering a 7.5 for a snap to floater followed by a blow tail snap on the end bowl.

Burrow quickly answered back on a left with three turns punctuated by a big backside tail whip on the end section, good for a 7.53.

Melling struck next with a quick snap followed by a huge tail drift on a closeout section for a 6.17.

Almost immediately, Burrow caught a set wave where he started with a big arcing turn followed by a critical closeout re-entry, netting him a 9.37. The Australians erupted with cheers.

Meanwhile, Young was lost in the lineup and struggled to find anything over 3.0 points. De Souza and Melling tried to fight back with midrange scores, but Burrow had the field in a combination situation needing two scores to overtake him, except De Souza, who needed a 9.40.

"Mate, it was tough conditions out there," said Melling, who finished in second place. "There were heats where you were wondering if any waves were going to come. I am glad to make the final here, though. I have always wanted to make the final in Hawaii because it’s a unique place that is hard to surf. Bring it on. I want to win the Triple Crown!"

De Souza was stoked with his third-place finish.

"I am so happy right now," he said. "It has always been my dream to get to the finals here in Hawaii. I have been watching the last 10 years, all of the finalists, and I have seen them with all their trophies and leis. So I always have been dreaming to be one day here. I am really proud of myself. It was an amazing week. Actually the flat waves at the start helped me a lot. I needed the rest. I am really pumped for Sunset. It’s going to be big waves, so it’s going to be a big motivation."

Young was dismayed about not doing better.

"Yeah, I was super frustrated in the final," he said. "Everything that could go wrong went wrong for me. I mean, it’s great to make the final. It’s all good and I will go into the next event with a little more confidence."

Hawaii’s Kekoa Bacalso, John John Florence and Roy Powers made it as far as the semifinals.

The Clash of the Legends Momentum Generation — a contest that ran concurrently with the Reef Hawaiian Pro — also finished with Haleiwa’s Ross Williams coming out on top.

Shane Dorian took second, followed by Rob Machado and Kalani Robb.