If you saw a Hollywood movie about a surf contest, the winner of the event would find a perfect barrel with thirty seconds left in the Final, travel for several meters behind the curtain and emerge with the highest score of the entire event. Today, in the real-life setting of Puerto Rico, that is exactly what happened to young Hawaiian Kekoa Bacalso.  With time running out, and only having a slim lead over his Floridian opponent Gabe Kling, Bacalso pulled into a beautiful six-foot wave and secured a score of 9.67, just short of a perfect 10.0. In addition to the drama, Bacalso's heroic effort earned him a paycheck of $10,000, the largest ever awarded in the ten-year history of the APSPR (Asociacion de Profesional Surfing de Puerto Rico).

With the welcome addition of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company as a co-sponsor of pro surfing, the total prize purse eclipsed all previous events on the island. "This was, by far, the best event we have ever had", said APSPR President Werner Vega. "We had the most competitors, the most prize money, as well as fantastic waves". Ironically, this was the first event that did not see a local Puerto Rican surfer in the Men's Final. While some local fans may have been disappointed, most insiders saw it as a breakthrough. "It shows the prestige that our Puerto Rican circuit has attained", continued Vega. "While our top pros like Brian Toth and Dylan Graves have been traveling the international tour for years, now the best surfers from the Mainland, Hawaii and elsewhere are coming to compete on their shores". Indeed, Toth, Graves, Bacalso and Kling are all currently ranked in the Top 100 of the ASP men's World ratings.