Owen Wright puts his legendary Fiji Pro surfing performance down to a moment of clarity during the event's first day.
The 25-year-old, who became the first competitor in world tour history to post two perfect heats in the one event, overcame a mental hurdle after his board broke at the weekend in round one at Cloudbreak.
Initially frustrated by the break, Wright said he let go of expectation and, from a new "comfortable" frame of mind, won his first championship event since 2011.
"I'd been trying hard for a long time to win an event and I just let it all go and, yeah, did it," he told AAP on Friday.
Wright moved up three spots in the world championship rankings to third with the win.
He also joins heroes Kelly Slater and Joel Parkinson as the only professional surfers to have scored two perfect heats.
His second 20 score, during the final against the Sunshine Coast's Julian Wilson, will likely be remembered as one of the sport's most-exhilarating moments.
"I never ever paddled out expecting I would get a perfect heat," he said.
"I was like, I can't lose now (after they announced the score) so I just started celebrating."
It has been a long road to this year's tour for Wright who had spent much of 2013 out of action with a back injury.
He said there were concerns his movement would be permanently affected and he was not himself when he returned last year.
Though it's only halfway through the tour, he says he has the ability to claim the world championship for the first time.
"I feel great, I'm happy, I'm healthy and I'm surfing well ... everything's there for it to line up for myself; it's just I've got to put it together."
"I feel like I'm back. I feel like I'm at my best again."
The 190cm-tall Wright came out of Fiji injury-free.
He made it back to Australia in time to celebrate NSW's State of Origin II win with friends.
Fellow NSW south coast surfer Sally Fitzgibbons was not among the revellers but she's been on Wright's mind since winning the Fiji Women's Pro with a perforated eardrum.
"I'll have to give her a text and say we should keep it (the Fiji Pro title) on the south coast more often," he said.
Wright will next compete at Jeffreys Bay, where he scored his best result - a third - last year.
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