Santa Barbara native Bobby Martinez won his first event of 2009 on surfing’s World Championship Tour Tuesday, besting Australia’s Taj Burrow in a high-scoring final at Teahupoo for the Billabong Pro Tahiti title.
Martinez posted early scores of 8.73 and 9.73 to put Burrow in a huge hole in the final. Burrow clawed back with a 8.17 and 7.93 but Martinez’s combined 18.46-out-of-20 score was too much to overcome.
“I feel great and a bit emotional,” Martinez said. “I feel wonderful. I waited for the good ones out there and just got lucky. There weren’t too many waves and I was lucky enough to get a couple of good ones and not fall. Things just seemed to work out for me today. I really don’t know what to say. It feels really special.”
The victory boosts Martinez from 19th to 7th in the season points standings after three events. Burrow slides into the No. 2 position and Joel Parkinson, who fell out in Tahiti in the 3rd round, maintains his No. 1 distinction.
(Image Courtesy of ASP/ CI/ ROBERTSON via GETTY IMAGES)
