Joel's J-Bay Champion » Damien Hobgood

Off the top on his backhand ... Damien Hobgood © 2009 - Kelly Cestari/ASP/CI via Getty Images

Unfortunately for Hobgood, inconsistency plagued the back half of his Final clash with Parkinson and the Floridian was unable to find a rhythm in the challenging conditions. However, today’s Runner-Up finish marks second career result at the venue for Hobgood (the other to Slater in 2003), an impressive feat for a goofy-footer.


It’s an honour to come here every year, Hobgood said. The place is magical and it’s just so beautiful. It’s easy to get distracted by how beautiful it looks when waves are coming down the point. Joel (Parkinson) opened up with that really good wave and at that point, the only thing I could do was pray for an 8-footer to come through. It’s not an easy wave for goofy-footer’s to excel at, but I feel really fortunate to finish in the Final. It’s a great result for me.

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