COURTESY GRANT ELLIS Kauai native Andy Irons celebrated his first ASP world title yesterday. Irons secured the title at the Rip Curl Cup on the North Shore when current world No. 2 Luke Egan was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Upon hearing the news Irons climbed out of his car and then climbed onto the roof to celebrate.

WORLD CHAMP

Andy Irons becomes
the third surfer from
Hawaii to win the title

The Iron file

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By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin

The designation is now officially his and surfer Andy Irons likes how it sounds: world champion.

ASP / TOSTEE.COM Hanalei's Andy Irons shows off the goods yesterday after winning the Association of Surfing Professionals World Championship Tour title.

Give him some time to get used to it, though. For while a first World Championship Tour title for the 24-year-old Kauai native had been anticipated for more than a month, Irons hardly saw himself even as a contender when the year began.

"I still can't believe it," said Irons, who resides in Hanalei, Kauai, when not on tour. "It's one of those things where it really hasn't sunk in yet. Everyone is coming up to me and calling me 'the world champ,' and I really still can't believe it."

Asked if he envisioned this at the start of the 2002 WCT, he responded: "Not in my wildest dreams."

The reality is, however, that Irons has become just the third world champion from Hawaii (Derek Ho, 1993; Sunny Garcia, 2000) in 26 years of the WCT. He clinched the crown yesterday in 10- to 15-foot-faced waves on the final day of the Rip Curl Cup -- the penultimate WCT event for 2002.

Irons entered the event at Sunset Beach on Oahu's North Shore with a commanding 1,000-point lead over his nearest competitor, Australian Luke Egan, and only two others in contention. Fellow Aussies Taj Burrow and Mick Lowe also held slim mathematical shots at snatching the title, but they eliminated themselves Monday by losing in the second round.

But Egan survived through Monday and earned a spot in yesterday's quarterfinals. And when Irons lost in the quarterfinal on an interference call, he thought that the title chase might extend to the final event -- the Xbox Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters at Ehukai Beach.

"I was really frustrated coming out of the water because I was overaggressive out there," Irons said. "After that, I thought the race might go on to Pipe, and I really didn't want that to happen."

Egan had to at least finish in third place at the Rip Curl to remain in contention. But he went down right after Irons, receiving a 6.3-point wave score as time expired during his heat when he needed a 7.7 to qualify for the semifinals.

Joel Parkinson of Australia won the event.

"I watched the whole thing," Irons said of Egan's quarterfinal. "It was the longest heat of my life. The heat was really close."

The waiting period for the Pipeline Masters begins Sunday and runs through Dec. 20.

Besides being the final WCT event, it is also the last of the three North Shore contests (others were Vans Hawaiian Pro and the Rip Curl) that make up the prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The Triple Crown title goes to the best overall performer, with Parkinson currently holding the lead after also reaching the semis at the Hawaiian Pro two weeks ago.

After a fourth-place finish at the Hawaiian Pro and yesterday's result, Irons still has the rare opportunity to win both the world and Triple Crown titles in the same year, a feat last accomplished by Garcia. But he says that he feels no burden now entering the Pipeline Masters, and would like to get his fourth WCT victory for the season and first win at the contest his younger brother, Bruce, won last year.

"The pressure is off, now," Irons said. "Pipeline is one of my favorite places to surf and I'm really looking forward to it. Bruce has got a title there and he's been rubbing it in my face for a while now, so hopefully I can do my best and get one there."

Unlike Ho and Garcia, who were 29 and 30, when they won their world titles, Irons likely has many years of WCT competition still ahead. But as for any pressure to repeat next year or become the first from Hawaii to win multiple world titles, Irons is taking it in stride.

"People will always have their expectations," he said. "I don't listen to that. I try to be my own person. I'm going to surf my best and that's all I can do."

Note: The women's Triple Crown of Surfing is set to start its second event -- the Turtle Bay Resort Women's Pro. Competition begins today, conditions permitting. The final event -- the Billabong Pro Maui at Honolua Bay -- has a holding period that runs from Sunday through Dec. 20 and will also decide the 2002 women's world champion.

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The Iron file Born: July 24,1978, Kauai Current residence: Kauai Years on tour: 8 Career victories: 5 WCT, 7 WQS, 1 WCJ Height: 6 feet Weight: 170 pounds Stance: Regular 2002 earnings: $160,375 (one event remaining) Hawaii's champions >> Andy Irons, 2002 >> Sunny Garcia, 2000 >> Derek Ho, 1993

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