Jordy Smith, Round five full-roter, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa

By now you should’ve heard about how Jordy ousted Mick Fanning in choppy three-to-four footers to win the Billabong Pro, Jeffreys Bay. But we wanted to take a look back at the spin Jordy threw down at heats-end in round five, against Bede Durbidge. A full-roter, thrown as an after-thought during a victory lap and, along with Josh Kerr’s ‘oop (and club-sandwiches), one of the standout moves of the event.

“I’m feeling really good,” Jordy Smith told photog Craig Kolesky following the final. Stating the obvious, sure, but what else d’you say when you win a WT event on home turf for the second consecutive year? “I’m so, so stoked to have won again here in J-Bay, in front of the home crowd. To have all the local support means a lot to me.”

Gone is the over-confident kid we first fell in love with. A coupla years in the big leagues have helped mature Jords and responses have become a lil’ more coy. Jordy told Craig (who fired-off the above sequence), that: “I think Jake Paterson has won back-to-back before, so I’m really stoked to get this win. As for a third (win at J-Bay), I will just keep surfing and trying my best and let’s see what happens.” Jords was also a little emotional, a little sentimental after the win, which, as y’could expect, magnified a gaping hole felt in the tour: “It’s Andy Iron’s birthday today. It’s been different without him here. All our thoughts are with him and his family today.”

Following the final, Kelly Slater Tweeted: “Just watched the jbay final highlights. Thought @Mick_Fanning had the best ride and @jordysmith88 had the better 2nd. Could’ve gone either way. Congrats.” Jordy also gave credit to Mick: “Mick is one of the fittest surfers on the tour. We’re friends and it’s always hard to come up against  one of your mates. He also knows J-Bay really well, so I knew I had to put the pressure on. And at the end of the heat it paid off.”

Watch out for the above sequence in video form, at 2:13 below.