Central Coast tyro Molly Picklum made a dream debut on the Championship Tour on Monday (AEDT), beating established stars Sally Fitzgibbons and Courtney Conlogue in the first-ever Pipeline Pro heat for women.
The 19-year-old regular-footer, who was called up for a first CT season after the withdrawal of American Caitlin Simmers, overcame heavy wipeouts to score a best two-wave score of 7.73 in the opening heat of the tour start in Hawaii.
She defeated compatriot Fitzgibbons (4.90), who earned a 3.40 wave after the siren to drop Conlogue (3.76) to the elimination round where she also finished last to bow out.
After epic conditions on day one, the swell dropped on Monday, making it tough for the women's field to find clean exits from tighter barrels.
Picklum found one on her forehand for a heat-high 5.33 and she was close to finishing a longer ride on her backhand, giving her the edge on her more experienced rivals.
"Last night I actually struggled to sleep because I was super excited," Picklum said. "But I surfed pretty well."
"Amazing," she said of winning the first Pipeline Pro women's heat. "Every heat is the same for me so I guess it's just good to know that my plan worked and I can take the momentum through the event."
She said her preparation at home had paid off.
"I'm from Central Coast, and we're so fortunate to get a variety of beach and reef breaks, so I guess just time at home and being lucky to live somewhere that offers me waves similar to Pipe," she said.
Picklum faces Frenchwoman Johanne Defay in the round of 16.
Her winning debut as a fulltime tour surfer came a day after Merewether's Jackson Baker did the same in the men's competition. He was to face defending Pipeline champion and two-time world No.1 John John Florence in round three.
Baker's clubmate Morgan Cibilic was eliminated on day one, while Merewether's third tour surfer, Ryan Callinan, is out while recovering from a broken wrist.
AAP reports: Inspirational surfer Bethany Hamilton progressed to the third round after replacing Stephanie Gilmore at the 11th hour.
The Hawaiian, who lost her left arm in a shark attack in 2003, was called in to surf the knockout heat after Australian champion Gilmore was quarantined following a positive COVID-19 test.
Hamilton has competed since the attack but not on the CT since 2018. The mother of three made the most of it, pairing two waves within a minute in the final stages of her heat to finish second behind Brisa Hennessy with 8.76 points to knock out teenage star Caroline Marks (3.7).
No mercy had been given to Gilmore, who could potentially have surfed on Tuesday (AEDT) after clearing protocols if the competition had been held over.
Tyler Wright, who won at Pipeline last year when the event was shifted from its usual Honolua Bay location when a social surfer was killed by a shark, was impressive in winning her heat.
Isabella Nichols (5.50) also won her heat, while fellow Australian India Robinson (2.94) enjoyed a stress-free passage to the third round with Gilmore a non-starter in her fixture with Wright.
Conditions had simmered after Sunday's huge swell, but large waves are expected to return later in the tournament window, which stretched until February 10.
