The men's opening round of the Margaret River Pro resumed in solid eight-to-twelve foot surf on Friday
The Pro is the final event before the mid-season cut, with the upcoming elimination rounds critical to competitors' futures in the 2022 CT season.
The standout performance of the day went to two-time WSL Champion John John Florence (HAW) who posted the highest two-wave combination of the opening round in his heat against WSL wildcard Jacob Willcox (AUS) and Lucca Mesinas (PER).
The 2021 Pro saw Florence putting down some of the most incredible performances in modern surfing memory before injuring his knee in the quarterfinal and sitting out the rest of the season.
This year, Florence is back, and let it be known with an epic heat win in challenging conditions, to progress into the Round of 32.
"It's super challenging out there this morning as there is so much energy out in the ocean," Florence said.
"The swell is massive and there has been a lot of wind over the last few days but it's cleaning up now and there are some great waves out there.
"I'm stoked that the waves are big today - it's fun going fast.
"I love it here, you take off and have so much speed and just have these massive walls in front of you, it's a lot like some waves we have in Hawaii.
"My injury here last year was unfortunate but that's just what happens in sport, especially when surfing waves like this. I'm just happy to be back surfing, and surfing here in West Aus."
Other standouts in the opening round were Ezekiel Lau (HAW), Connor O'Leary (AUS), and Jackson Baker (AUS), who all earned excellent single-wave scores in their matchups to claim heat wins and progress into the Round of 32.
It was essential for both Lau and Baker to grab results as they both sit on the cut-line in Margaret River.
Local fans anxiously awaited Jack Robinson's debut in the 2022 Margaret River Pro as their local hero looked to back up his equal third-place finish at Bells Beach with another big result on home soil.
Robinson was able to sneak into the Round of 32 with a narrow second-place finish over Frederico Morais (PRT).
WSL Wildcard and Margaret River local Jacob Willcox found himself in the Elimination Round after he was unable to overcome Mesinas and Florence in their Opening Round match-up.
Local trials winner and runner-up Ben Spence (AUS) and Jack Thomas (AUS) were dispatched to Elimination Round 2 after losing their opening round heats at Main Break.
The pair will get one more chance when competition resumes on Saturday as they move into the Elimination Round.
