Day one of this year’s last World Tour event, the Pipeline Masters, is over, and possibly the most significant moment of the day came at the end of heat 6, when Taylor Knox exited the water wearing a contest singlet for what is likely the last time.

At age 41, Knox has been the oldest surfer on tour for a couple seasons now, and he hasn’t adapted to the new aerial generation in the manner fellow 40-something Kelly Slater has. Thus, after two decades of professional surfing, he’s decided it’s time to retire from competition; he lost out of the event today at the hands of wildcard Billy Kemper of Maui.

Knox was adamant, though, that that is retirement won’t be wholesale.

“I’m gonna do some select events…” he assured us in the post-heat interview following his last heat.

The event will run all day Sunday in the peak of a pumping WNW swell that got things under way earlier than expected today, on the first day of the waiting period. The stage looks to be set for tour qualifying hopes and title dreams to be decided in classic Pipeline conditions.

BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.00 def. Evan Valiere (HAW) 9.50
Heat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) 6.50 def. Tyler Newton (HAW) 6.26
Heat 3: Kalani Chapman (HAW) 15.83 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 5.70
Heat 4: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 15.33 def. Flynn Novak (HAW) 9.76
Heat 5: Fred Patacchia (HAW) 8.43 def. Tanner Hendrickson (HAW) 5.93
Heat 6: Billy Kemper (HAW) 11.00 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.17
Heat 7: Adam Melling (AUS) 11.66 def. Bruce Irons (HAW) 7.73
Heat 8: Jamie O’Brien (HAW) 16.34 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.94
Heat 9: Shane Dorian (HAW) 14.50 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 9.83
Heat 10: Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) 14.73 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 7.84
Heat 11: Dane Reynolds (USA) 11.34 def. Granger Larsen (HAW) 3.10
Heat 12: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 14.27 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 10.77

BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Kalani Chapman (HAW) 13.84 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.60
Heat 2: Billy Kemper (HAW) 9.33 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 5.04
Heat 3: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 15.17 def. Jamie O’Brien (HAW) 13.57

REMAINING BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 2 MATCH UPS:
Heat 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Shane Dorian (HAW)
Heat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Ricardo dos Santos (BRA)
Heat 6: Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
Heat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)
Heat 8: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Fred Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 10: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Heat 11: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 12: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)

BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: John John Florence (HAW) vs. TBD
Heat 2: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBD
Heat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 9: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 10: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. TBD
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. TBD