Will Zeke Lau Receive His ‘Ultimate Surfer’ Wildcards On The Back Half Of The CT?

Back in early 2021, Zeke Lau won the WSL’s The Ultimate Surfer reality TV show, earning himself three Championship Tour wildcards in the process.

Later that year, Zeke qualified for the Tour full-time via the Challenger Series, making his wildcards moot. At the time, we wondered whether Zeke’s wildcards would be handed down to the TUS runner-up, Koa Smith — the WSL replied, simply, no.

Jump ahead a few months, and after five events, Zeke Lau finds himself below the CT’s mid-year cut line, meaning he will not compete on the back half of the Tour. This made us wonder… can the Hawaiian now claim his three CT event wildcards from The Ultimate Surfer in the remaining five comps?

“When Zeke qualified for the CT, that nullified his TUS wildcards — so he’ll be focused on the CS,” a WSL executive explained.

So, that’s a no.

The female TUS winner, Tia Blanco, still has two of her wildcards remaining, which will see her into the El Salvador and J-Bay CT events in the coming months.

As a reminder, there are two wildcards in each event on the back half of the CT — an event wildcard, which generally goes to a supporting sponsor’s surfer or the winner of a local trials event, and the WSL wildcard, which the League can give to whomever they like.

The League has already granted these five wildcards to 3x World Champ Gabriel Medina for the remainder of the 2022 season. (Learn more about how WSL wildcards work here.)