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ASSOCIATED PRESS With one World Championship Tour event left this season, Andy Irons has already clinched his third consecutive world title.

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Irons in the fire

Kauai's Andy Irons continues
his hot streak with a third
straight world title

IF winning one world championship shows you are no joke, and picking up a second the very next year proves the first wasn't a fluke -- what does winning a third in three years mean?

In men's surfing, a three-peat of world championships puts you right near the top, among the greatest ever.

Before this year, there were but two revered names who had done it.

Mark Richards. Kelly Slater.

But last month, Kauai's Andy Irons added his name to the very short list, sealing his third straight world title with one World Championship Tour event left to go.

So does Irons therefore deserve to be counted among the very best?

Still only 26 and with plenty of energy and desire left for future years, he may be one of the few who doesn't think so.

"This really hasn't sunk in yet, it doesn't feel real," said Irons, who still resides in Hanalei, where he grew up. "The first one was definitely the sweetest, and each one has been special. But the third one, I really can't believe it.

"I think the third one shows everyone that I can surf small waves, big waves, and be consistent and surf smarter contests," he added. But Richards and Slater, "those guys are my heroes. I would never put myself next to those guys. Those guys are the ones I look up to. I just put myself as the consistent contest surfer who got on a roll."

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GRANT ELLIS / TOSTEE.COM "Andy is the only guy I've ever seen take down Slater -- ever," said Sunny Garcia, the Hawaii surfer who has spent nearly 20 years on the tour.

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Slater, who is from Florida and has won a record six world titles so far in his career -- five of them coming consecutively from 1994-98 -- thinks differently. He led Irons in the 2003 world title race entering the last event of the season.

Irons beat Slater in the final of the Pipeline Masters in perhaps the most dramatic conclusion in history, cementing Irons' status as one of the world's best.

"(Irons) is definitely up there," Slater said. "Competitively, he's done as well as anyone ever. The only thing now is, does he sustain that, or does he get disinterested, or does it make his fire burn harder? It's all up to him."

Said Sunny Garcia, who has spent nearly 20 years on tour and was the last surfer from Hawaii to win the world title (in 2000) before Irons' run: "Andy is the only guy I've seen take down Slater -- ever."

And while Irons may be included in the greatest-ever conversation, don't count on him to reflect on his accomplishments. He only seems focused on the next event, the next win, which is why he has been so successful.

Ultra-intense these days, Irons has developed into a competitive beast of a man. He simply has a fever to win all the time -- much like Slater, and the best champions in other sports, like Michael Jordan.

When asked the key to what has allowed him to stay on top with everyone gunning for him, Irons answered: "My sheer competitiveness. I'm a real competitive person. I try to stay fit and I surf every day. I think that helps a lot -- I have a real strong passion for it. It keeps me happy, really. I live for that feeling of winning."

Richards, from Australia, won four consecutive world titles from 1979-82. Besides Slater and Irons, the only other surfer to win three championships over a career is California's Tom Curren.

This year, Irons has enjoyed the most consistent season of his nine-year career, winning twice, placing second twice and third three times in 10 of the 11 WCT events so far. He won a career-high five events last year, but this year he's suffered only one early-round loss and was not seriously challenged.

"I'm still learning, still making mistakes, but they seem to be a lot farther between," Irons said.

For Irons, major accomplishments are becoming routine. There are the three straight world titles that makes him the only male surfer from Hawaii to win more than one. Garcia and Derek Ho won one each.

Irons is also the two-time defending Triple Crown of Surfing and Pipeline Masters champion. In fact, Irons is the only surfer to score the trifecta of world, Triple Crown and Pipeline Masters championships in the same season more than once (Slater is the only other to pull it off even once, in 1995).

And, just last Friday, he won the World Cup at Sunset Beach to become only the second surfer (Australia's Gary Elkerton is the other) to win each of the Triple Crown events over a career. That victory propelled him into contention for a third straight overall series championship and a chance to pull off the trifecta again at the season-ending Pipeline Masters. The waiting period ends in two weeks.

For now, Slater tops the greatest-ever list. But Irons is halfway to matching Slater's six world titles, and already focused on trying to reel in his fourth straight next season.

"I see it as a huge, huge obstacle, to pull it off," said Irons, of potentially matching or breaking Slater's record. "But I'm going to be gunning for it, for sure. I might as well. I'm on a roll, and I'm going to try to keep it going for as long as possible."