Despite being born and raised in the surf-starved East Coast of the United States, Damien Hobgood has established himself as one of the fiercest competitive surfing talents the ASP World Tour has seen over the last decade. Taking the ASP Dream Tour by storm with twin brother C.J., Damien has proven himself time and time again in all conditions ranging from two victories in lethal conditions such as Tavarua (2004 and 2006) to a runner up finish in 2009 at Jeffreys Bay's high performance right-handers and Hobgood's versatility has seen him stand tall alongside the rest of the world's best.

After struggling through an injury-plagued season in 2008, Hobgood launched back to action in top form, finishing ASP World No. 9 after his 9th season amongst the elite. The ultra-consistent Floridian was a top finisher in 2006 and looked to be a title contender in 2007 but injured his knee in Chile and his string of bad luck continued when he suffered a severe shoulder injury in 2008 at Teahupoo. 2009 proved to be a turnaround year for Hobgood and if he continues to build momentum in 2010 as he did this past year, he'll be a serious threat to this year's ASP World Title.