@WSL/Brent
Jeffrey's Bay local and World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) surfer Matt McGillivray had a remarkable first-ever event on the elite tour of men’s professional surfing.
He waited a year for the CT to commence, and it was an excellent competition for the young South African.
What would have been the final tournament of the 2020 season, the Billabong Pipe Masters in Hawaii, became the first contest of the 2020/2021 season last week.
McGillivray, a tour rookie, showed his prowess in the powerful waves of the Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu. He managed to beat some highly rated surfers en route to his ninth-place finish.
Matt placed second in his seeding heat and leapfrogged through to round three as a result. In the third round, he came up against the in-form Hawaiian star Seth Moniz and defeated him with some power surfing.
In the round of 16, Matt came up against the favourite, Hawaiian John John Florence. Matt bowed out to the two times world champion in what was a low scoring heat.
Florence went on to win the event, claiming his first ever Pipe Masters trophy.
The World Tour is a long haul, and with a great start like this, Matt can be comfortable in the knowledge that he has what it takes to do well this campaign.
The Championship Tour stays in Hawaii for the next event, the Sunset Open at Sunset Beach, with the waiting period beginning on the 19th of January.
