Tom Curren (USA) claimed victory in the first round of the highly anticipated Clash of the Icons against fellow surfing legend Mark Occhilupo (AUS) at the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay this morning.

Sent out into clean one metre waves at Supertubes at 7.15 am, Curren started with two short rides before Occhilupo posted the first meaningful ride of the encounter – 6.50 out of 10 – for a series of trademark backhand carves. Curren waited patiently for the best waves and was rewarded with one that peeled the entire length of the point  enabling the renowned stylist to rack up a 7.0.

Occy continued to be the busier of the two as they moved down the point to the cleaner faces at the Carpark section and the Australian held the lead going into the last five minutes. Curren’s patience paid off in the dying minutes as, needing just 4.51 points, he found the best wave of the heat and extracted everything from it, riding almost onto the rocks at Impossibles, to be awarded 7.50 by the judges and first blood in the clash.

There will be a second round between two of surfing’s best known ambassadors between the semifinals and the final of the Billabong Pro when Occhilupo will have the chance to restore parity to their 26 year rivalry that now stands at 9 wins to 8 wins in Curren’s favour.

read more at surfertoday

Highlights from today’s Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay will be available via www.billabongpro.com

JEFFREYS BAY, South Africa (Monday, July 13, 2009) – Round 1 and the opening two heats of Round 2 of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay were completed today in clean three-to-five foot (1.5 metre) waves at the legendary South African pointbreak, with the world’s best surfers reveling in the opening day of competition.

Event No. 5 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay opted to make the most of the conditions on offer today, opting to run the new competition format of man-on-man elimination matches from the outset, completing 18 heats of competition, highlighted with some incendiary performances.

Sean Holmes (ZAF), 31, wildcard at the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, has a storied history at the event, competing seven times prior, finishing as high as 5th (2002) and as low as 33rd (2005). Although Holmes, once considered the Jeffreys Bay nemesis of former-three-time ASP World Champion Andy Irons (HAW), 30, hasn’t competed for the past two years, the powerful natural-footer posted an emphatic win this morning in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd.

“I was so nervous out there for the first ten minutes of my heat that I felt like I had stones for legs,” Holmes said. “About halfway through the heat, I loosened up and was able to collect some pretty good scores. For a natural-footer, the wave here at J-Bay is such a pleasure to ride. Although I haven’t competed in this event for a couple of years, I feel comfortable out here and I’ll look to get through a few more rounds before I’m done here.”

Holmes not only announced his return to the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay this morning, but collected the highest heat total of the day, a 15.93 out of a possible 20, in his Round 1 win over 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie Dustin Barca (HAW), 27. The South African’s navigation of the Jeffreys Bay lineup, uting everything from fully-committed forehand hacks to deftly-maneuvered barrels, went unmatched by the world’s best surfers throughout the remainder of the day.

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Michael Picon (FRA) 11.83 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 10.83
Heat 2: Nathaniel Curran (USA) 12.84 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 9.33
Heat 3: Nic Muscroft (AUS) 15.17 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 9.37
Heat 4: Kai Otton (AUS) 10.40 def. Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 8.33
Heat 5: Dean Morrison (AUS) 10.83 def. Marlon Lipke (DEU) 8.67
Heat 6: Chris Ward (USA) 12.67 def. Torrey Meister (HAW) 10.16
Heat 7: Sean Holmes (ZAF) 15.93 def. Dustin Barca (HAW) 14.50
Heat 8: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 15.83 def. Ryan Payne (ZAF) 11.00
Heat 9: Tim Reyes (USA) 14.33 def. Devyn Mattheys (ZAF) 4.73
Heat 10: Heath Joske (AUS) 8.87 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 8.03
Heat 11: Greg Emslie (ZAF) 13.34 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 9.50
Heat 12: Chris Davidson (AUS) 11.00 def. David Weare (ZAF) 8.83
Heat 13: Michel Bourez (PYF) 14.33 def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 13.83
Heat 14: Roy Powers (HAW) 8.16 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 5.46
Heat 15: Ben Dunn (AUS) 8.50 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 5.80
Heat 16: Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.00 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 5.77

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.17 def. Michael Picon (FRA) 13.10
Heat 2: Kai Otton (AUS) 12.90 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.23

REMAINING BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Nathaniel Curran (USA)
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 6: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heath Joske (AUS)
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Sean Holmes (ZAF)
Heat 10: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Tim Reyes (USA)
Heat 11: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Nic Muscroft (AUS)
Heat 14: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Chris Ward (USA)
Heat 15: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Greg Emslie (ZAF)
Heat 16: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Chris Davidson (AUS)

read more at ASP

JEFFREYS BAY, South Africa (Monday, July 13, 2009) – The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay will commence this morning at 7:30am in clean three-to-five (1.5 metre) surf at South Africa’s iconic pointbreak.

Stop No. 5 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay has seen the ASP Top 45 survive through four consecutive lay days, but today’s improved conditions will have the world’s best surfers in the water.

“We’ve got the ning of what could turn into a really good day of waves out there this morning and we’ll be getting underway at 7:30am,” Mike Parsons, Billabong Pro Contest Director, said. “Recent swell projections have prompted us to activate the new competition format so we can make the most of the conditions on offer, but we will not be running the dual-heat tem today.”

The new ASP competition format will see man-on-man, elimination heats from the outset of competition this morning, resulting in a day of dramatic match-ups.

First up this morning with be 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie Tim Boal (FRA), 26, up against compatriot Michael Picon (FRA), 30.

The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay will be web LIVE via www.billabongpro.com

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay can also be followed via your mobile phone. Anyone with a 3G or GPRS enabled phone can log onto asptogo.com from their mobile browser. Content is updated real time as per the web – event status, results, live scores, news, photos and video highlights along with ASP World Tour ratings tables.

For more information go to http://aspworldtour.com/2009/aspmobile.asp

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Tim Boal (FRA) vs. Michael Picon (FRA)
Heat 2: Jay Thompson (AUS) vs. Nathaniel Curran (USA)
Heat 3: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Nic Muscroft (AUS)
Heat 4: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)
Heat 5: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Marlon Lipke (DEU)
Heat 6: Chris Ward (USA) vs. Torrey Meister (HAW)
Heat 7: Dustin Barca (HAW) vs. Sean Holmes (ZAF)
Heat 8: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) vs. Ryan Payne (ZAF)
Heat 9: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Devyn Mattheys (ZAF)
Heat 10: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Heath Joske (AUS)
Heat 11: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Greg Emslie (ZAF)
Heat 12: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. David Weare (ZAF)
Heat 13: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 14: Jihad Khodr (BRA) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 15: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 16: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Drew Courtney (AUS)

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 2: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. TBA
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. TBA
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. TBA
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 6: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 10: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 11: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBA
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 14: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 15: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 16: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA

original story from ASP