Santa Barbara surfer Lakey Peterson ended her title drought on the World Surfing League’s Championship Tour, winning the Corona Open Jeffreys Bay event in South Africa on Wednesday.
The championship victory over Australia’s Molly Picklum was Peterson’s first on tour since 2019, vaulting her into contention for a Rip Curl WSL Finals final-5 berth. She moved from ninth to sixth place in the points standings with one remaining contest in the regular season, the Tahiti Pro, Aug. 11-20.
Peterson won the J-Bay title in dramatic style, coming from behind with an 8.5 run after Picklum laid down consecutive good-scoring waves to take a 13.50-11.60 lead.
Peterson sealed the win with a 4.70 score on her 11th wave of the final. The final score was 14.77 to 13.50.
Congratulations @LakeyPeterson, winner of the #CoronaOpenJBay! 🏆@corona pic.twitter.com/ZDH83EXQRH
— World Surf League (@wsl) July 19, 2023
Peterson was overcome with emotion once she learned she won.
“This is my favorite event on the calendar, it’s just special,” Peterson told the media in South Africa. “I’m dedicating this to my sister-in-law who we lost this time of year last year, so there’s a lot of emotions. It’s really cool (to win).
“We all work so hard and we’re so competitive, but it’s really special when your peers want to celebrate you and they show up for you. It’s a pretty cool community and I don’t know many other sports like that.”
Peterson made runs at the world title in 2018 (second place) and 2019 (third) before she suffered a lower-back injury in early 2021. She finished sixth on the Championship Tour last year.
She’s proven that her form has returned, posting five top-five finishes in nine events to put her in position for a shot at the WSL Championships at Lower Trestles in San Clemente in September. The top five-ranked surfers on tour advance to the finals.
Peterson had a tough road to make the final in South Africa. After finishing third in her first heat, she knocked off up-and-coming rookie Caitlin Simmers in the elimination round, beat former world runner-up Caroline Marks, in the quarterfinals and edged two-time World Champion Tyler Wright by 1.47 points in the semifinals.
“I just kept working, just kept knocking on the door and trusting the process, it’s hard sometimes,” Peterson said of her come back from the injury.
Peterson twice finished as the runner-up at J-Bay in 2019 and 2018.
“I love J-Bay and it just loved me right back today to be honest. It was a tricky day and it was easy to be on the wrong side of priority when the good waves came, so a bit of luck in there. But I’m pretty proud of myself, this was my third final out here so third time’s a charm.”