Who Fell Below the Cut Line Leading Up to Margaret River?
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Are fans and competitors getting numb to the mid-year cut? Just accepting its existence as a permanent part of the Championship Tour? Or is it an experiment that’s about to run its course? Do you love it? Do you hate it?
Whichever side you fall on, the cut has undoubtedly brought drama and intrigue the Australian leg didn’t have before. Cole Houshmand, for example, just jumped 18 spots in the rankings after a win at Bells” from 26th and in danger of relegation in his rookie season to a safe landing spot in the top 10. No doubt he’s going to be a little looser when the Western Australia Margaret River Pro starts next week.
But there was only one Houshmand story at Bells. There were several people on the flip side of that very coin — athletes sitting at or above the cut line leaving Portugal but are on the outside looking in now. Some of them have been here before. One of them collected a CT win in West Oz and probably wouldn’t mind doing it again. Actually, I’m pretty sure every single one of these athletes wouldn’t mind a win at Main Break.
Peterson and Gabriela Bryan swapped spots right at the cut line after Bells and and they’re separated by 225 points in the overall rankings (Peterson just outside at number 11). West Oz will basically be a race for one to outlast the other and hope neither Sawyer Lindblad or Isabella Nichols makes a run deep enough to leapfrog them.
Lakey does have a win at Margaret River on her resumé though, which is reason enough to carry some confidence into the fifth stop.
Seth Moniz
Seth Moniz visited the quarterfinals at Margaret River in his first two years on tour. He went out in the elimination round and then the Round of 32 the next two times he competed there at the CT level. Maybe it’s the threat of the cut that pushes Moniz though; he’s finished the past two seasons right at this rankings threshold and kept his spot on tour. He’s two spots outside the cut now at number 24.
Miguel Pupo
It really felt like Miguel Pupo (currently 26th) was catching his stride when he won his first CT event at the end of 2022. The Brazilian was already in line for the highest ranking of his career before the win at Teahupo’o left him within a hundred points of qualifying for the WSL Finals.
An injury shut all that down early last year and he’s looking for that momentum with this year’s injury wildcard. Bells didn’t help much and the goofy footer dropped four spots below the cut line with an equal 17th.
Jacob Willcox
All cut casualties have to sting but this is one guy worth rooting for. Willcox has been accepting event wildcards at the CT level for a decade and 2024 is his first year as a fully-qualified addition to the tour. It’s a decent bet he’d like to stick around for the full season and worth betting the house that fans in West Oz won’t be shy about pulling for him. It’d make a great story for Willcox (currently at 27th) to save his spot on the tour with a big performance at home.
Frederico Morais
Portugal’s lone representative on the men’s tour was sitting right at the cut line before Bells and came out of the contest, dropping six spots in the rankings to 28th. The 32-year-old’s been here before though. He’s qualified, fallen off, and re-qualified for the tour again on more than one occasion. Avoiding a trip back to the Challenger Series is obviously the goal here, but whatever the outcome, fans will see more of Frederico Morais at the Championship Tour level somehow.
The post Who Fell Below the Cut Line Leading Up to Margaret River? first appeared on The Inertia.
