Haleiwa’s John John Florence scored a hometown victory in the Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold Haleiwa Challenger after dropping a perfect 10-point ride. Florence, returning from a knee injury suffered last year, is now a nine-time North Shore winner, tying three-time WSL Champion and fellow Hawaii surfer, Andy Irons.

Florence overcame Australian Jack Robinson, Kanoa Igarashi of Japan and Brazilian Samuel Pupo in the action-packed men’s final. Robinson grabbed an early lead after scoring 7.33 and 7.70 on his only two rides, but Florence soon made it clear that he was the man to beat, showing off a dazzling array of turns, airs and barrels on a perfect fifth wave. The 10-point ride was compared to a “dream run at a skatepark” by WSL’s Joe Turpel.

The clincher came later on Florence’s seventh wave, an 8.03 effort that brought his overall score to 18.03 and put him three points clear of second-place Robinson (15.03). Igarashi scored 14.54 on 7.77 and 6.77 waves, putting him in third and kept him atop the Challenger Series rankings as the 2021 season draws to a close. Pupo finished in fourth, a career-best placement in a major WSL event after scoring 10.13 on 6.83 and 3.30 rides.