All you need to know about this year's O'Neill World Cup at Sunset is it was one of the best in years. That's bound to happen when organizers are praying for the surf to come down instead of up just to finish on time. Sunset Beach was out of control for much of the wating period, but Triple Crown Contest Director Randy Rarrick couldn't have asked for better conditions on the final day. Light trades, solid 10 foot surf and a firing Inside Bowl provided plenty of drama this morning as the swell steadily declined...Here's the story lines.

39-year-old Sunny Garcia, a six-time Triple Crown Champion, was arguably robbed of his third World Cup. Garcia opened the final with an incredible needle threading of the Inside Bowl after ripping the outside. He earned a 9.4 on a wave that could have easily been given a 10.0. Had he been handed even a 9.7 he would have won. But the ocean went quiet in the final (call it the calm before Monday's huge storm) and the only backup wave Garcia's was able to muster was a disappointing 3.4. Sunny's been around long enough to know that's inexcusable.

Joel Parkinson, meanwhile, has clearly put his slump behind him. And if you're wondering about his ankle? Don't. Trust us...Parko's fine. What you should be watching is the momentum he's been building on ever since snapping out of his dreaded slump in Portugal. I'm pretty sure Fanning is. And after Parko's solid finish at Haleiwa and his win today, he's now hoping to capture the Triple Crown and the World Title at Pipeline. Yes, he'll need help from somebody, but he's ready for a fight.

All that said, Mick Fanning was the best surfer of the day. Add all of his rides from today's quarters, semis and the final and it's pretty clear this guy is on his game. Face it, he has been all year. But while Parko got off to his blazing start Fanning suffered two early losses in extremely close heats for good reason, his fellow competitors scored perfect 10-point-rides. When they don't he's been pretty frickin' hard to stop.

And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the huge WQS drama at stake today, and the clutch performance put in by Hawaii's Dusty Payne, who qualified for the ASP World Tour during his first real season of slugging it out. That alone says all you really need to know about Dusty, whose odds were not favorable coming into Sunset. But with his berth into the finals Dusty powered his way up into the 9th slot on the WQS rankings all the way from the 18th. As a result, he pushed out Joan Duru, who was tied with Blake Thornton. On a countback, the Australian Blake Thornton stayed in the ASP WQS Top 15 and qualified for the 2010 ASP World Tour.

Not all hope is lost for Joan, however. Jay Thompson still has a chance of double qualifying by making the ASP World Tour Top 27,and if he does, he will not need his WQS spot, opening it up for Joan to become 15th.

Finals Results of the O'Neill World Cup

1. Joel Parkinson

2. Sunny Garcia

3. Mick Fanning

4. Dusty Payne

The final 15 ASP WQS qualifiers for the 2010 World Tour are:

Ross, Daniel AUS

Gudauskas, Patrick USA

Andre, Jadson BRA

Melling, Adam AUS

Wright, Owen AUS

Munro, Luke AUS

Thompson, Jay AUS

Yeomans, Nathan USA

Payne, Dusty HAW

Simpson, Brett USA

Wilkinson, Matt AUS

Gudauskas, Tanner USA

Logie, Travis ZAF

Polo, Marco BRA

Thornton, Blake AUS



ASP stat man Al Hunt brings has broken it down for us this way. The Australians have taken 50% of the available WQS slots with 7, USA with 4, Brazil with 2 and Hawaii and South Africa 1 each.

The big movers at Sunset were Dusty Payne 18-9, Tanner Gudauskas 16-12, Bernardo Miranda 22-17 and Van's Triple Crown Rookie of the year Alejo Muniz 38-26.

Drew Courtney and Rodrigo Dornelles were knocked off next year's tour by Tanner and Dusty. Drew ending up 18th and Rodrigo 19th.

If you were to take a step back and closely examine the current state of the World Tour title race, you'd see all of the elements necessary for drama ripe enough to warrant itself a slot on daytime television. Joel Parkinson, who opened the year in an unstoppable form, laying waist to his World Tour counterparts with reckless abandon, has fallen by the wayside on the 99-yard line, a lame ankle biting into his title hopes with every top turn and rail laid. When news of Parko's injury first made its way into the media, his handlers attempted to assuage the hype, stating it was only a calf sprain.... We bought in.

The ensuing months bore witness to a softening of Parko's kung-fu grip on the World Tour. At Trestles, he didn't look quite right, and then at France, it was clear that something was amiss. That injury that was supposedly nothing more than a mild calf sprain had proven itself a nagging and somewhat severe ankle injury. Despite a strong showing in Portugal, Parko recently reported in his blog that the possibility of going under the knife and having pins put in his ankle is not outside of the realm of possibility.

"The last few weeks it's felt really good. Really good. I kind of got over that stiff injury phase, now I'm getting flexibility back in it, so it allows me to do a lot more on it," said Parko in an interview on his website. "When I get home from Hawaii I'm going to have another round of MRIs to find out if it's 100 percent. I've got one little test to do to find out how much movement I have between my tib and my fib, and if it has a lot of movement I'll probably have to get a screw in it, but if it doesn't then I should be right."

Parko went on to say that he's currently geared up to compete in all three events of the Triple Crown, despite a doctor's recommendations.

"The doctor the other day recommended I should probably pull out of Haleiwa, but I'm still surfing fine and surfing without pain. I'm fit and healthy so I said to him, 'I'm doing it, mate.' I love the Triple Crown, I love Hawaii. It's surfing."

If Parko were to secure his first world title while nursing an injury at Pipeline, it would undoubtedly be the stuff of legends. It also wouldn't be the first time an injured surfer proved his worth at Pipe come crunch time. In 1982, Michael Ho historically won the Pipe Masters with a cast on his wrist, pioneering the pig dog in the process.

Can Parko comeback and pull off a miracle? Stay logged on to GrindTV to see how the 2009 Triple Crown unfolds.

Mick Fanning is back in his rightful place. The same place he found back in 2007, when he dominated with one of the most impressive win streaks in ASP history to earn his first ASP World Title. At the Rip Curl Search event in Portugal this morning he nabbed his third event in the last four tries, extending his ratings lead over Joel Parkinson in the process with just one event left to go.

Mick's huge advantage over Parko now is he's been here before. But after reaching the mountain top in 2007 Mick Fanning learned the hard way what it's like to wear the target. As a result, his 2008 season was almost over before it started. For the wind chill up on the mountain top is far more penetrating to the nerves, and finding your familiar comfort zone is almost impossible once you're so exposed. Just ask Kelly Slater, who went through the same process back in 1993.

The world title made Mick a national hero in the sport's crazy town of Australia, where being a celebrity is a lot handle. His feet hadn't found solid ground again until midway through this year, when all the weight of his country was transferred over to the shoulder's of his buddy Joel Parkinson. After Parko's early dominance this year some in Australia were already planning his coronation...book deals were in the works, documentaries being planned...and natrually, Parko's ankle essentially cracked under the weight of that pressure.

Meanwhile, back on firm ground Mick Fanning was able to find his winning ways again. And today, wiser for the wear thanks to his journey up to the mountain top, he has what looks like a radar lock on the task at hand. The Fanning Focus is back, and he's galloping toward the finish in silky-smooth stride.

Lest you think it's all over though, understand this...Parko's third place finish says a lot. He's dealt with more in a single season than most deal with in a career. And while his brief journey to the top yeilded him plenty of arrows to the body, he's got dressing on his wounds now, and he's going to be ready for one more good fight at Pipeline. It should be one hell of a climax.

I don't know about you...but I'm enjoying this season.

Brazilian wonder-kid Adriano de Souza earned his first career victory today, moving back into third place in the ASP World Tour rankings after taking the Billabong Pro in Spain. The youngster remains the leading dark horse for a world title as the battle has heated up significantly over in Europe.

The situation for this year's title race just got a lot more interesting as the tour heads for Portugal. 9-time world champion Kelly Slater emerged from his sand trap just long enough to put himself within striking distance with a 3rd place finish, although he's deep in the cabbage and in still in dire need of a good approach shot.

The green in this crappy little analogy is Pipeline, where Slater has won a half dozen times. But in order to get in another long putt-for-the-win situation he'll need to show us a solid 7 iron shot in Portugal. And as usual, it's tough to know where Slater's head is. He was complaining of a knee injury after his golf trip to Scotland between events. Whether it's real or imagined seems debatable because his surfing remained sharp.

But Slater's ego might have been damaged after the new tour changes he endorsed was dealt a few blows by the ASP last week. ASP backers announced reforms that are placating some critics for now. Coincidentally, talk of Slater's knee injury began circulating just after the the big meetings were held and decisions were made. His knee was so bad he contemplating a trip home.

Yet the smell of blood proved too much for Slater to resist, especially after Parko lost yesterday. After suffering through the same torture early this season Slater was empathizing with Parko. Then Fanning stumbled too, and fate's scriptwriters decided a nice tight tour race might do pro surfing well in a crappy economy.

CJ Hobgood, Kelly Slater and Adriano de Souza did their best to close the gap in the crappy conditions. The level of surfing was actually pretty good at Mundaka, which despite the weather was offering some solid targets to hit. It was a lot harder to watch at Sopelana, unless you're a fan of groveling.

Fanning has the obvious edge with two events left to go. Parko is still suffering with a bad ankle, while all of Mick's cylinders are firing. His boards are working and he's mentally and physically prepared for the battle ahead. The big moat he and Parko have built up doesn't hurt either. But neither of them can afford to slip up again in Portugal.

Regardless of what happens next week, the title will ultimately be decided at Pipeline in December, where Andy Irons and Kelly Slater are sure to have an impact even if they're only playing spoiler roles. Just like that, we've got a nice little race on our hands.

Results of Billabong Pro Mundaka
1. Adriano de Souza
2. Chris Davidson
3. Kelly Slater, CJ Hobgood
5. Dede Durbidge, Drew Courtney, Fred Patacchia, Taj Burrow

Ratings After Billabong Pro Mundaka
1. Mick Fanning 6350
2. Joel Parkinson 6306
3. Adriano de Souza 5773
4. CJ Hobgood 5748
5. Bede Durbidge 5524
6. Kelly Slater 5514

Photos by Lucia Griggi and ASP/Getty Images

Joel Parkinson got a good look at Mick Fanning passing him in the ratings today. The two were in the water at the exact same time as Billabong Pro contest director Mike Parsons was forced to go with Kelly Slater's double-heat format in order to salvage what's left of the waiting period at Mundaka. Mick and Joel were surfing their heats simultaneously in the crumbly afternoon conditions.

Parko was surfing against Australian Drew Courtney during his first heat of the competition, and the crumbly beachbreak surf was clearly torture on his sore ankle. Parko has been nursing the injury since the mid-season break in the tour, and while he was trying to downplay its impact at the Hurley and Quiksilver Pro events, where he lost early, there's no question it's hampering him. While Joel is putting his board in all the right places there's been a lack of authority in his moves. His inability to put any real force on his bad ankle is a giant crack in his surfing foundation.

Such problems are usually magnified in smaller, crumbly surf, which is what Parko's been dealing with at each event since the second half of the season began. Just a little over a month ago Parko was holding what looked like an insurmountable ratings lead. But after his third straight early loss in a row Parko has handed over the lead to his old buddy Mick Fanning, who's been on a tear in the second half.

Fanning's solid surfing wasn't translating into results early in the season, but all the hard work seems to be paying off now. It's worth noting that Fanning won his world title in 2007 during a season that was rife with small, mushy surf. His speedy, laser sharp approach is paying dividends.

Fanning beat South African David Weare today to advance on to Round Three of the Billabong Pro. If his luck turns and he loses in the next round, there's still an outside chance for guys like C.J. Hobgood and Kelly Slater to claw their way back into the hunt for a world title.

Don't count on Fanning to falter here though. Mick's the type who, when smelling blood, can capitalize. He's also one of the only surfers out there right now who can rattle Kelly Slater, as he did at Lower Trestles during the Hurley Pro.