Australian Owen Wright won his Round One heat today at the Rip Curl Pro Search in Portugal. The tall, lanky 19-year-old goofyfooter is unquestionably the biggest threat of the wild cards on hand. The guy has just completed one of the most dominating seasons in history Down Under, going undefeated in every Pro Junior event he surfed. Meanwhile, he became one of the first surfers on the WQS to clinch a spot on next year's Dream Tour.

Now it looks like Wright will be surfing against Kelly Slater in Round Two, which is one hell of a tough draw for both surfers. Every heat at this point is a last gasp for Kelly's dwindling title hopes this year. Slater's just coming off a close call in Spain that had him seething with the judges. His Europe trip hasn't been going well, which means he could be ready to roll over (doubtful) or he's due on a red-faced-with-rage breakout (probable).

Yesterday, Wright sent his Rip Curl buddy Kekoa Bacalso packing for the North Shore, so, even if he were to get past Kelly there's little evidence he'd roll over for a guy like Mick Fanning, who he could easily run into next.

Wright has already earned his spot on next year's Dream Tour. His surfing is dynamic. He flares above the lip with a full arsenal of acrobatic moves, and he leverages his ultra-long legs well while in the pocket, going inverted in the blink of an eye. Style-wise, he's been known to get on his horse, but then again, so do guys like Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith. Which, begs a couple other questions...What's up with all the frickin tall guys? And where have all the midgets gone?

With ten surfers mathematically in the title hunt, we know things are going to get interesting this weekend at the Rip Curl Pro. By Saturday that number is likely to fall to five guys. It's hard for me to not be pulling for Kelly at this stage. But I won't be the least bit surprised to see Mr. Wright play a huge role in the destruction to come. Stay tuned.