Winning Makes a Believer of Brown in Pro Surf Final

People were telling Santa Barbara’s Chris Brown he had won the $50,000 Killer Loop surfing tournament Sunday at the Oceanside Pier long before the judges made it official.

Brown refused to believe. He chose to assume he had lost, just in case.

But Oceanside’s Mike Lambresi, the three-time champion of the Professional Surfing Assn. of America, predicted Brown would win.

“He’s on for the tournament, not to mention, he’s the most naturally gifted surfer on the (U.S.) tour,” said Lambresi, who was eliminated in the semifinals earlier Sunday.

Still, Brown wasn’t taking anything for granted. At least until the winner was announced after Sunday’s finals.

Today, Brown can deposit a check for $7,300--his earnings for winning the fifth stop on the Bud Pro Surfing Tour. He also earned 1,000 points and moved into first place on the tour with 3,148, four more than Charlie Kuhn of Indian Harbor Beach, Fla., who was third.

Fan favorite Rob Machado, a 16-year-old senior at San Dieguito High, was second in the 40-minute final.

Brown, 19, won his second tour event in his first final of the season. His first victory was in 1988 in an Irvine man-made wave pool.

“This is far more pleasing,” he said.

A controversial interference call on Newport Beach’s Richie Collins in one semifinal cost him a chance to advance. Without the major penalty, Collins probably would have won the heat. Still, he nearly won despite only getting points for his best three waves instead of the normal four.

In the Body Glove Bodyboarding division, three-time U.S. champion Mike Stewart of Anaheim won a close final over Hawaii’s Harry Antipala (second place), Ben Severson (third) and Kyle Maligro (fourth). Stewart, who earned $2,075, won for the 27th time in 52 contests.