Sometimes all it takes is one big win to crack the code. After years of banging her head against the wall Sage Erickson finally earned her first Championship Tour win last month at the Vans US Open, and while one heat later is hardly a trend, Erickson seems to be surfing, walking and talking with a bit more clarity these days. Having solved the riddle, Sage already seems to be operating out of a new manual. "I don't want to just survive on this Tour," she explained. "I want to do well and sometimes it takes a while to choose your focus. Coming into this event, I was a little nervous just because I've never been an event winner before and I didn't know how to go about it...so I just brought it back to the basics here."
The basics worked pretty well. Sage earned a key Round One win over Nikki Van Dijk and the returning Malia Manuel, earning herself a quick trip to Round Three.