THE final day of the Boost Mobile Margaret River Pro in Australia was a good day for Jeffreys Bay surfer Matt McGillivray, as he made it through to the final four in the men’s division.
McGillivray recently completed his rookie year on the World Surf League’s (WSL) Championship Tour (CT).
His third–place finish was his best result so far on the tour.
After poor results in the first two of the four-stage Australian leg of the tour, this result has seen him shoot up to 16th place on the CT rankings.
McGillivray defeated Japanese surfer Kanoa Igarashi in the round of 16 before beating Hawaiian surfer Seth Moniz, comfortably, in the quarter-finals.
However, when he came up against eventual contest winner, Filipe Toledo, from Brazil, in the semi-final, he bowed out in what was a close heat.
McGillivray always upped the ante when the waves were big and powerful.
This was no doubt from all his training at Supertubes over the years.
In fact, the Rip Curl team member qualified for his rookie year on the CT, on the back of an excellent result in big surf at Sunset Beach in Hawaii.
To qualify, he needed to get beyond round 3 in the massive waves on offer at the Vans World Cup 2019. McGillivray surfed his way through to the quarter-finals and emphatically gaining his spot on the premier tour.
The next event is the Rip Curl Rottnest Search event and fortunately, McGillivray will have another chance to increase his points tally and continue to move up the rankings.
The Rip Curl WSL Finals will take place at Lower Trestles in California in November.
