With only two more events on the ASP World Tour remaining following the completion of the Billabong Pro Mundaka, the picture is becoming clearer for many of the WQS hopefuls. The Top 27 from the ‘08 World Tour and the Top 15 ASP WQS surfers, plus three wildcards, will make up the Dream Tour Top 45 for 2009.

Of note for the month of October on the WQS is the ever-popular O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Santa Cruz. The 4-star event at California’s legendary Steamer Lane will get underway in just a couple of weeks. O’Neill has bumped the overall prize money for the Cold Water Classic to a cool $80,000. That’s up $5,000 from last years event, one that saw their own Jordy Smith come away with the victory and join the likes of Tom Curren, Bobby Martinez, Taylor Knox, Martin Potter, Joel Parkinson as past winners of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic.

Stay tuned…

The current ASP WQS Top 20 rankings:
1.Curran,Nathaniel USA 13200
2.Davidson,Chris AUS 12525
3.Boal,Tim FRA 11888
4.Gudauskas,Patrick USA 11438
5.Kerr,Josh AUS 11325
6.Weare,David ZAF 10675
7.Nicol,Yadin AUS 10500
8.Courtney,Drew AUS 10475
9.Lipke,Marlon DEU 10375
10.Henrique,Pedro BRA 10263
11.Bettero,Hizunome BRA 10150
12.Khodr,Jihad BRA 9888
13.Pires,Tiago PRT 9663
14.Paulino,Pablo BRA 9600
15.Bourez,Michel PYF 9600
16.MacDonald,Phillip AUS 9450
17.Emslie,Greg ZAF 9375
18.Sedley,Leigh AUS 9375
19.Gossmann,Shaun AUS 9363
20.Garcia,Sunny HAW 9350

It may not have been the most spectacular victory, but Phil MacDonald will gladly take it. “I placed 2nd many times in my career but to eventually win a big event is just amazing,” MacDonald said. “It was one of the smallest contests in a long time but a win is always a win and I am stoked I finally got the boys to hold me up in the air and get that feeling at last. It was a tough contest, kind of nerving testing with the tricky waves all weekend.”

With his recent victory at the WQS 6-star Buondi Billabong Pro, the 29 yr. old from Sydney, Aus. did wonders for increasing his chances to return onto the WCT in 2009. Moving from no. 31 to no. 14 in the WQS standings, another year on the ‘CT is now looking like a reachable opportunity following what has been a slow start to the year. “I was not really into it when the year started and I did not want to put any pressure on myself,” MacDonald said. “With these two good results I guess I will start thinking of the possibility to make it back on the Dream Tour but I would need a couple of big scores still. I will see how things go.”

Carlsbad, Ca. surfer Pat Gudauskas finished runner-up to MacDonald at Buondi and earned himself big points toward his quest for next years WCT. With the waves being meager and fickle at best, Gudauskas was pumped on making another final heat. “I was so excited to make another final after the one in Florida in January but the waves were tricky and it was not an easy heat,” Gudauskas said. “Phil got that one excellent wave and with inconsistency of the swell there was not much I could do. I am still stoked.”

Nathaniel Curran still sits atop the WQS standings following the Buondi Billabong Pro. Here are the current rankings as the tour moves onto Spain:

ASP WQS Top 20 (Top 15 advance to WCT at year’s end):
1.Curran,Nathaniel (USA) 13200
2.Davidson,Chris (AUS) 12525
3.Kerr,Josh (AUS) 11325
4.Gudauskas,Patrick (USA) 11207
5.Boal,Tim (FRA) 10938
6.Nicol,Yadin (AUS) 10500
7.Courtney,Drew (AUS) 10475
8.Weare,David (ZAF) 10450
9.Lipke,Marlon (DEU) 10375
10.Henrique,Pedro (BRA) 10263
11.Khodr,Jihad (BRA) 9888
12.Pires,Tiago (PRT) 9663
13.Paulino,Pablo (BRA) 9600
14.MacDonald,Phillip (AUS) 9450
15.Bettero,Hizunome (BRA) 9400
16.Emslie,Greg (ZAF) 9375
17.Garcia,Sunny (HAW) 9350
18.Gossmann,Shaun (AUS) 9276
19.Monteiro,Raoni (BRA) 9275
20.Simpson,Brett (USA) 9200

Bolstered by the thousands of rowdy fans lined up along the shores of Huntington Beach, Oxnard, Ca. surfer Nathaniel Curran overcame the fatigue that was setting in as a result of surfing four heats on Sunday on his way to becoming the 2008 Honda U.S. Open of Surfing champion. “I’m so pumped I don’t even know what to say,” Curran said. “Everyone was getting me really pumped up because I really wanted to win and I’m stoked. I just tried to keep myself cool and composed the whole time. I was just trying to keep it in rhythm and keep going.”

With a fading south swell combining with the incoming high tide, it wasn’t exactly a stellar final heat for what has been one of the better years as far as waves go for the U.S. Open. However the 23 yr. old Curran put up a couple of decent scores and held on as runner-up Tim Boal waited in vain for a workable wave. Boal, from Hossegor, France, put a little drama into the final with a last minute desperation wave, but Huntington had essentially shutdown at that point and didn’t present Boal much to work with. Curran defeated Boal by a final score of 11.66 to 10.70. “I’m upset that I lost,” Boal said. “I’m happy with the points, but I would have liked to come away with the win.”

Aside from the cash and crowd love that Curran pulled in with the biggest victory in his career to date, Curran now sits atop the WQS standings and bolstered his chances of joining the Dream Tour next year. “I’m super stoked to be the new WQS No. 1,” Curran said. “It’s tough because there are so many good guys. I’m just trying to focus on each heat and take it one contest at a time. I think all of the training and staying focused is paying off.”

Congratulations Nathaniel Curran! - 2008 Honda U.S. Open of Surfing champion

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