Another beautiful sun greeted the last 48 men of the event when they got to Brims ness, home of the O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch since the start of the event.

With precious points to be taken from today's battles, the atmosphere around the area slightly changed and it was obvious time had come for serious exchanges. The conditions had dropped a little during the night, but with no wind at all, the Point was offering some clean almost glassy faces.The upset of the day was the elimination of defending champion Russel Winter (Gbr), the british former WCT campaigner losing to Nathan "Hog" Hedge (Aus) and young outsider Charles Martin (Glp). With some efficient surfing action, the 16 year old man managed to score a 7 pointer with controlled, radical moves, countering Jarrad Sullivan's (Aus) last minute assaults. The outstanding performer of round 3 was undoubtably Shea Lopez (USA). Coming back from years of injury, the former WCT surfer sits in the WQS top 15 so far, and knew he had a lot to get from a qualification in round 4. Lopez rocked the show when he took off on a set wave to secure some amazing upside-down turns, and get the highest score of the event with a 9.5 pts. Backing up his ride with an 8.43, the domination was total, the onfire surfer taking best total of the O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch. "I'm lucky I got the good ones. There weren't many waves and I was just on them right time right place. I'm lucky to make it and glad to get on in this 6 Star Prime," said a smiling Shea giving his black rashguard to Andy, famous local beach marshall. The floridian surfer, whose brother Cory still surfs in the elite Foster's Men' World Tour, was undoutably ready for another big clash.

In order to use the best wave of the area, the judges' truck was moved to the Bowl, famous barrel machine that made this event world famous. In the middle of round 4, the Bowl started to fire some perfect sections and the cold water soldiers were happy to paddle out for the third time of the day. Three of the four 3-men heats were sent out, ASP world Junior Champion Jordy Smith (Zaf) getting another chance for the finals of the 6 Star Prime WQS event O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch. The last heat of the day was destroyed by asher Nolan who just cut the hollow faces of the Bowl. With 9.5 and 8.5 pointers, the american easily won hs ticket for tomorrow's finals.

Three rounds were completed today, and remains one heat of round 5, quarterfinals, semifinals and the grand man-on-man clash for the crown. The event is definitely in its business end and we might soon know who will become the "2007 Highlander". Have a good time, see you tomorrow.
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