Hawaii's Ezekiel Lau delivered a number of persuasive performances this week at the Rip Curl Pro. The rookie eliminated some big names at Bells, including Conner Coffin, Kolohe Andino and Filipe Toledo. He even took event winner Jordy Smith the distance in their Semifinal clash. Jordy needed some last minute heroics to get over the hump. For Lau, who was the last rookie to qualify for this year's Championship Tour, the third place finish is validation that he and his power-based approach are a great fit for the elite level. His peers and pundits believe he's got what it takes to be around for a long time. Now Zeke is believing it more too.
