Op Pro Surfing Championship : Jeff Booth’s Upsetting Ways Continue

Jeff Booth never thought it would be this easy.

“Since I knocked off the defending champion, it’s like I’m playing a video game on someone else’s quarter,” Booth said. “It’s like I’ve got 30 seconds to score as many points as I can.”

Booth, 19, a Laguna Beach native, continued to score points Saturday at the $70,000 Op Pro Surfing Championship at Huntington Beach, which concludes today with semifinals and finals.

Booth, who advanced out of the trials competition, upset defending champion Barton Lynch in Friday’s second round, and he scored victories over Australia’s Robert Page (ranked 23rd in the world) and Marty Thomas of Manhattan Beach Saturday to advance into the semifinals, which begin at 6:30 a.m.

“It’s still kind of a dream,” he said. “I thought it would take years for me to make it this far.”

Booth, who is ranked 45th, faces 1987 Assn. of Surfing Professionals runner-up Gary Elkerton of Australia in one of today’s semifinals. Fifth-ranked Tom Curren of Santa Barbara, a two-time Op Pro champion, meets defending world champion Damien Hardman in the other semifinal.

In the women’s draw Saturday, 8th-ranked Toni Sawyer of Australia upset compatriot Wendy Botha, the defending world champion, and 1984 Op Pro champion Pam Burridge of Australia, ranked 7th, eliminated Santa Barbara’s second-ranked Kim Mearig.

Sawyer will face 1985 Op Pro runner-up Jorja Smith of San Clemente (ranked 5th) today, and Burridge meets three-time world champion Frieda Zamba of Florida, who is ranked 3rd.

“It’s a real downer to lose like this in front of my home crowd,” Mearig said. “The water was real cold and the waves were still small. I just didn’t get into a rhythm.”

But Booth did.

“I like the bigger waves, but I’m making do all right,” said Booth, noting the low 2- to 3-foot surf. “I got behind in the quarterfinal, but I got lucky. I got some pretty good waves late in the round and I was able to score some late points.”

Booth views his recent success with amazement.

“I used to dream of just making the main event,” he said. “The Op is such a big tournament. So many great surfers.”

Two years ago, as an amateur, he made the main event but didn’t stay long. His opponent, Curren, his idol, sent him home early.

“I grew up wanting to be just like Tom Curren,” Booth said. “I was just starting to compete as an amateur when he turned pro. I never really thought I’d get to surf against him. Then I made it through the trials to the main event and drew him in the first round.

“He beat me . . . bad. I was young and nervous. The crowd got to me.”

But Saturday’s crowd, estimated at 25,000, was pulling for Booth.

“Up to this point, it’s been me against foreigners, so I guess it’s been natural for the crowd to pull for me,” Booth said. “It’s really helped, too. I can hear them out there. They help pull me through.”

But Curren is the real crowd favorite. Winner of the 1984 and ’85 Op Pros, Curren advanced to the semifinals for the sixth consecutive time with victories over South Africa’s Shaun Tomson (ranked 11th) and his longtime nemesis, 4th-ranked Tom Carroll of Australia. In the quarterfinal against Carroll, Curren took a big spill but recovered easily.

“It was a wave I probably shouldn’t have tried,” Curren said. “I took off late and lost it. But luckily, I didn’t lose any momentum.”

And momentum is perhaps the key element in today’s championship.

A Curren-Booth final could be a clash of the sport’s present and its future.

“I guess if it gets down to that, the crowd will have to make a choice,” Booth said. “Tom Curren is one of the greatest surfers of all time, and I’m just a guy still trying to make it. When I started out (this week), I just wanted to make the main event. Now I want to win.”