Great surfers always find a way to shine in lackluster waves and Taj Burrow stepped up to the challenge. The No. three ranked surfer on the World Tour stayed patient throughout the final and picked off the biggest waves of the set.

"It's pretty tough and you have to be selective," said Burrow who won with a two-wave total of 16.90 out of a possible 20 points. "I'm normally not that patient, but I tried to wait for those bigger waves even though I didn't do the most rad surfing ever on my nine (point ride.) I think the judges liked the size of the wave."

Burrow took out fellow Aussie Adam Melling, 26. While Melling would have preferred a victory, he was still psyched to make it as a finalist in Hawaii.

"I've always wanted to get into the final over here because it's such a unique place, and it's a hard place to surf," said Meiling of the North Shore, "I wanted to get the bomb rights, but I didn't want to wait. There were a lot of lefts coming in all day. I think I got a good backhand whip on me at times, so I use it to my advantage."

Melling finished above Brazil's Adriano De Souza, 24. The No. five ranked surfer on the World Tour looked in-form before the final, but had problems finishing his rides in the last heat yesterday, which earned De Souza third place.

Santa Cruz California's Nat Young, 20, was the lone goofy-foot in the final. Young didn't really have a chance to find a rhythm in the challenging conditions and finished in fourth place. Next up for the Triple Crown is the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset, which could potentially start on Friday.