Brazilian bad boy Filipe Toledo has made good on his return to the World Surf League, claiming a narrow victory over Portugal's Frederico Morais in the final at Jeffreys Bay.
Toledo pipped Morais in a tight final 18 points to 17.73 with Australia's Julian Wilson and Brazilian Gabriel Medina sharing third.
Toledo had copped a rare ban from the tour and was forced to sit out the Fiji Pro last month after he attempted to storm the judges' tower at his home event in Rio.
Angered after being penalised for an interference in a third round elimination heat with young American Kanoa Igarashi, Toledo sought at an explanation back on the beach as he attempted to remonstrate with judges.
He later apologised for his actions.
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There was no baggage from that incident however, Toledo scoring two perfect 10s on the way to his first victory of the season.
"It has been an amazing week," Toledo said.
"This is definitely going to be the competition I remember for forty or fifty years, not just because I won but because of the level of surfing during this whole week. With J-Bay, the perfect waves and the level of surfing, it was perfect."
In a closely contested series in which six different surfers have won the six events, Australian Matt Wilkinson still leads the overall rankings after his fifth place in South Africa.
Five events remain.
Wilson secured his best result of 2017 with a semifinal berth where he was defeated by Toledo. He enjoyed a perfect 10 score in the third round.
The next stop on the men's tour is in Tahiti starting from August 11.
