Armed with plenty of advice from his famous father and a nothing to lose attitude, exciting Hawaiian wildcard Mason Ho edged past defending champion Mick Fanning on day one of the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach.
In a desperately close round-one heat on Wednesday, Ho racked up a two-wave score of 13.13 points, three hundredths of a point clear of Fanning, pitching the three-time world champ from Australia into a cut-throat second-round encounter.
Ho, 26, hails from Sunset Beach on the famed north shore of Oahu and boasts an impeccable surfing pedigree.
His father Michael Ho was a pro tour trailblazer and two-time Triple Crown winner, his uncle Derek Ho was the 1993 world champion and his younger sister Coco Ho is a star of the Women's Surf League.
Mason and Michael Ho have spent the past week preparing for the second stop on the WSL tour at the iconic Victorian break.
"He's been giving me a bunch of info about Bells since the day we got here," said Mason Ho.
"He's been telling me so much and I've been trying to take it all in."
Ho made the early running in Wednesday's heat and then held on for the victory, although there were some worrying moments when Fanning latched onto a good wave in the dying minutes.
"I was in a really good spot as I was in first place with priority and there was under five minutes to go," said Ho.
"A wave came, I took off and then it ran off from me so I thought `well, it's up to the surf gods now'.
"I was definitely a little nervous when I saw Mick flaring that last one."
A big aim for Ho this year is to find the consistency needed to book a fulltime berth on the WSL in 2016.
"That's what I'm going for and I really want to get some results on the road, because I've done well at home," said.
"In situations like today, I don't know if it's so much about pressure drawing someone like Mick, because the wildcards always get the toughest heats.
"For me it was always a win-win situation."
Fellow Hawaiian Freddy Patacchia recorded a score of 13.00 in what was a very tight heat.
Decreasing swell meant the men's competition was put on hold and then called off for the day after South African Jordy Smith won the seventh of 12 round-one matchups.
Joining Ho and Smith in advancing straight to round three was 11-time world champion Kelly Slater (16.67), who dominated his heat against Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz and New Zealander Ricardo Christie.
Reigning world champion Gabriel Medina from Brazil (12.76) was another round-one winner against wildcard Joe van Dijk and fellow Australian Matt Banting.
WSL commissioner Kieren Perrow will decide at 0800 (AEDT) Thursday whether competition can resume on day two.
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