Patrick Gudauskas has conquered the Mr Price Pro Ballito, at Surfers Beach, in South Africa. The San Clement surfer defeated the Hawaiian Prodigy John John Florence in good surfing waves. Two years ago, Pat's brother had taken the prestigious ASP Prime contest when he topped Florence by a heat total of 11.84 to 8.03.
"This is crazy! I’m so psyched right now," Gudauskas said. "This is definitely the best event I’ve ever competed in and maybe the best one I’ve ever watched. It has been flawless for a whole week and we’re all psyched to be in Ballito."
The Californian put on a stellar performance to take the win, defeating local favorite and current No. 2 on the ASP World Rankings, Jordy Smith, in the Semifinals, Australian charger Kieren Perrow and dangerous Brazilian Junior Faria before beating Florence in the Final.
"I just got lucky in the final," Gudauskas said, "John John was the man to beat at this event and it was a tough heat. I went for turns while he was looking for barrels and I think he would have ‘smoked’ me, had he found one!"
The Gudauskas brothers now stand alongside the late Andy Irons and brother Bruce as the only brothers to have taken out the prestigious South African event.
"It’s crazy, people were asking me about that all week and I knew it would be a difficult task to defend Tanner’s title," Gudauskas said. "Somehow I pulled it off and the fact that Andy and Bruce did it, makes it even more special."
Gudauskas will remain in South Africa to compete at stop No. 4 of 11 on the ASP World Title Series, the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, which runs from July 14 through 24, 2011.