TOP SEED SPLAT
Dane, Jordy and Others Ousted At U.S. Open

Reynolds gets up, but unfortunately, they all went down.

True to Huntington form, this morning the U.S. Open—and more specifically, the men's Round of 48—was greeted with meager, inconsistent knee- to waist-high peaks scattered about the south side of the pier. And while the surf wasn’t top-shelf, with a majority of the top seeds still rolling, the day’s action promised to deliver.

With rumors of outlandish sponsorship deals swirling about him, Jordy Smith faced a stacked first heat. Squaring off against the likes of three Top 44-caliber surfers—Tom Whitaker, Troy Brooks and Mikael Picon—Smith had his work cut out for him. Unfortunately, unlike his ISA World Title, which he won in Huntington, the young South African wouldn’t be so lucky this time around. At the heat's end he found himself in third place...failing to advance by less than three hundredths of a point.

Later in the morning, Adriano De Souza and Cory Lopez would be the next top seeds to fall, followed not long after by Bruce Irons' shocker, and then Fred Patacchia’s disaster. By the time Dane Reynolds’ heat took the water, in a heat featuring the wonder kid as well as WQS rating’s leader Tiago Pires and two Brazilians, the complexion of the entire contest had changed. And, as luck would have, Reynolds and Pires were both stumped by the meager conditions. It was a long day of upsets, but with the possibility of a slight bump in Southeast swell expected for the weekend, things could be looking up for those still standing. Stay tuned for more...