SURFING : It’s Clearly a Sunny Day in Men’s Final of Op Pro

Sunny Garcia took immediate control of the men’s final in the Op Pro Surfing Championship on Sunday to win before more than 40,000 at Huntington Beach.

Garcia, who’s from Honolulu and was the runner-up here last year, scored 7.0 on his first ride, followed by a 7.83, 7.37 and the heat’s best wave, a 8.10. He finished with a 30.30 overall.

“The tide was coming up and the waves weren’t as glassy as they were this morning,” Garcia said. “I guess I was just fortunate I had four good waves.”

Defending champion Rob Machado of Cardiff, who chose to surf away from the other three finalists, hoped that his spot south of the pier would be as lucky as it was earlier in the day when some good south swells provided over six-foot surf in his semifinal heat.

Unfortunately for Machado, who was third, the wind blew out many of the waves. And while Machado waited for some decent waves, Garcia was next to the pier, where surf conditions were a little better.

“Last year I lost to Rob and he did the same exact thing,” Garcia said. “This time, it looks like it didn’t pay off for Rob and I got the better waves.”

The final heat included two surfers from San Diego County: Machado of Cardiff and second-place finisher Taylor Knox of Carlsbad.

Knox, fifth-ranked on the world tour, drew first blood in the final heat with a 5.67 ride. Knox kept the pressure on, scoring the second-best wave at 8.0. Finishing fourth was Fabio Gouveia of Brazil.

In the Op Junior, Tim Curran, 17, of Oxnard dominated the competition. Andy Irons finished second and Mikala Jones finished third. Both are from Hawaii.