Tanner Gudauaskas pulled off the near-impossible Thursday at the Billabong Pro Cascais, when he moved from fourth to first in the final five minutes of his Round Three heat. He secured a solid 7.60 in the dying stages to take out Australian Matt Banting. Brett Simpson, meanwhile, held on to the second-place spot thanks to a 7-point ride early in the heat.
As for Banting, after a lackluster year on the Championship Tour, his job security for 2017 is shaky and he needs some solid results to requalify for the tour. He'll get another chance next week in France, when the the Quiksilver Pro France kicks off on the 4th.