Chris Ward wins the 2012 Rip Curl Cup, Padang Padang

After winning the Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang last night, Chris Ward dropped his knee on the podium and flashed a ring at his girlfriend. As if winning the event with a 10-point ride (which he scooped in the last two minutes) wasn’t enough, Wardo’s now also engaged. “I asked her before we came here, and I got her family’s blessing,” he says. “I bought the ring and was thinking, how should I propose? I told myself if I won this contest I was gonna do this right here on the stage. So I guess it was meant to be.” Ain’t that sweet? But, uh, how about winning surfing’s “Ultimate tuberiding contest”? Needing an 8.5 to take the cherry, Wardo was gifted a wave that’d spit him into the channel for more than enough points. “I knew I had it,” he says. “I knew it was an 8.5 for sure. Last year I had an onshore heat and didn’t even get barrelled and lost in the first round. Today it was a completely different story. I was feeling it all day out there. This year Padang gave me the waves.” Everything’s coming up Wardo.