Morris Wins Surfing Heat in South Africa Tourney

Willy Morris of Woodland Hills won his heat Friday in the second round of the Assn. of Surfing Professionals main event in Durban, South Africa.

Morris, 22, is 17th after three days of surfing as the tournament winds down and surfers prepare for next week’s contest at Jeffery’s Bay. He ranks 25th overall on the 20-event, 11-month world tour.

Morris’ chances to gain ground on tour leaders improved recently when three of the tour’s hottest surfers boycotted the South African segment of the tour in protest of that country’s political practice of apartheid. Australia’s Tommy Carroll, Britain’s Martin Potter and Santa Barbara’s Tom Curren each cited philosophical differences in explaining their boycott.

“I would only boycott if I thought conditions were unsafe,” Morris said Friday from his Durban hotel. “The way I see it, if they (Carroll, Potter and Curren) boycott South Africa because of apartheid, why aren’t they boycotting the United States part of the tour because of the MX missile?”

Morris thinks the absence of three of the best surfers, who most likely dashed any hopes for earning a world championship by participating in the boycott, creates a timely opportunity. Each tournament is worth 1,000 points.

“It has definitely opened things up a lot,” said Morris, whose last major victory was at the Katin Team Challenge in Huntington Beach in January. “The whole circuit is up for grabs.”

Since arriving in Durban, surfers have been hampered by small, 1-2 foot swells. Morris said competitors were expecting larger surf tomorrow, the last day of the Durban tournament.