Championship leader Mick Fanning has benefited from a trip home during the build-up to his world surfing title showdown with Kelly Slater in Hawaii.
With an unseasonal lack of surf on Oahu's North Shore putting the opening event of Hawaii's Triple Crown on hold for a week after the first day, Fanning took the chance to fly home to the Gold Coast to practice and recharge.
He returned to win his fourth round heat in the Hawaiian Pro in small waves on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
It's the first time in several years that 32-year-old Fanning has contested the full Triple Crown - Hawaiian Pro, World Cup and Pipe Masters - as he takes every chance to compete ahead of next month's Pipe Masters when the world title will be decided.
Fanning, the 2007 and 2009 world champion, will go into that contest with a handy 53,100 points to 45,900 lead from 11-times world champion Slater.
He was grateful to have been surfing for the past week while rivals sat and waited.
"Yeah, I actually flew home and was lucky enough that out front of my house there was a perfect little left (break) - exactly the same as this, so I was actually training while everyone was here," said Fanning.
"I guess that's the excitement of (Hawaii), you never know what is going to come and it's great to see the different range of surf and I think that's why the Triple Crown is such a world class series.
"It's such a range of different surfers who can really show their stuff.
"You wake up each day and get to be excited that you get to go surfing for a job."
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