Veterans Sunny Garcia and Shea Lopez among heat winners

With deep personal issues weighing heavily on his mind, former world champion Sunny Garcia (Hawaii) showed flashes of the talent that carried him to a world title in 2000 and dominated the opening heat at the $185,000 Honda U.S. Open of Surfing Presented by O'Neill.

Tuesday's round of 144 showcased many of professional surfing's "old" guard paired against the up-and-coming young guns. Other veterans advancing included Floridian Shea Lopez, a U.S. Open winner in 1999, two-time event champion Rob Machado (Cardiff) and former U.S. champion Tim Curran (Ventura).



Although the devastating heat wave continued for most of inland Southern California, Huntington Beach was overcast and had a relatively pleasant
temperature in the mid-70s. Surf conditions were a mixed-bag today,
ranging from two to three feet with fair shape early in the day and
wind-blown in the afternoon. The world's largest professional surfing
competition continues through Sunday at the famed Huntington Beach pier.



A fixture in Huntington Beach dating back to the Op Pro in the 1980's,
Garcia opened quickly with a 6.17 and followed with a 5.83 - his only
waves - for a total score of 12.00. Although the heat was largely void
of waves, in part due a negative low tide, Sunny caught the best two and
easily advanced. With an "income tax" cloud hanging over him for nearly
a decade, Garcia plead guilty to a tax fraud charge last month in
Federal Court.


"Huntington is one of my favorite spots, so I always like coming here,"
Garcia said. "I'm supposed to be retired, but I've had a really bad run
with the IRS and some personal problems and figured the best thing is to
get back to what I know best, which is surfing."



After decades of living as a touring professional, Garcia is finding
adjustment to retired life difficult. "To tell you the truth, I'm just
bored," Garcia said. "I've been traveling for 20 years and the people I
travel with are like my family. So I'm stoked to be here. I'm stoked
to see all my friends again."



Laguna Beach's Mike Todd and Hawaiian's Kekoa Bacalso and Mason Ho
advanced to the round of 96. Ho, son of surfing legend Michael Ho, was
an easy winner today, netting 13.24 points in heat two. Todd was in
sterling form this morning as he secured an excellent 9.00 out of a
possible 10 with a series of explosive forehand maneuvers on a long
lefthander. Todd is currently ranked 24th on this season's World
Qualifying Series (WQS), and knows that a big result here will build the
momentum and he campaigns through the upcoming months.



"This year I've got a good start and I'm right there in the hunt of it,"
Todd said. "This is the leg of the year where we go to Japan and
Europe. It's the meat and potatoes part of the year so I'm trying to
get everything I can out of it, get some results and hopefully be on the
ASP Foster's Men's World Tour next year."



Kekoa Bacalso (HI), current World Junior Champion, was in blitzing form
this afternoon securing a 14.00 out of a possible 20 for a convincing
win. Although known for his phenomenal performances in big surf,
Bacalso seemed to revel in the smaller afternoon surf. "I've been
working with my shaper a lot on some really light equipment - just
specific stuff for Huntington," Bacalso said. "My board worked amazing
and I had a lot of fun."


Florida's Eric Geiselman, San Clemente's Dane Gudauskas, Hawaii's Hank
Gaskell and Ventura's Dane Reynolds were among the young guns failing to
advance.


The Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O'Neill continues on
Wednesday, July 26 as the women hit the water for the first time.
Competition begins at 7:30 a.m. with the round of 60 (heats 1-6) and the
round of 48 (heats 1-12) at 9:30 a.m. Top women include Sofia
Mulanovich (Peru), Karina Petroni (Florida), Rochelle Ballard (Hawaii),
reigning event champion Julia Christian (Carlsbad) and Holly Beck (Palos
Vdes).


Heats 1-5 of the men's round of 96 will conclude the day. Florida's
Damien Hobgood will square off against WCT rookie Bobby Martinez
(Ventura) and Sunny Garcia in one of the day's most anticipated
match-ups.



Live scores will be available on usopenofsurfing.com
or bankofthewestbeachgames.com.