McNulty Makes a Splash in Debut : Op Pro: In his first appearance in a pro main event, San Clemente surfer upsets Australian veteran.

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  No one can blame San Clemente’s Terence McNulty for being a little nervous when he paddled out for his main event first-round heat against Cheyne Horan Wednesday at the Op Pro surfing championships.

McNulty, 23, had reached the main event for the first time in his three-year pro career. Horan, 30, of Palm Beach, Australia, had won 12 events during his 14 years on the Assn. of Professionals tour, including the 1982 Op Pro.

“This was the first time I have been in a man-on-man heat and Cheyne has been in a thousand,” McNulty said. “I’m a child compared to him. He’s like a Zen master.”

But McNulty, an unseeded trialist, wasn’t intimidated, upsetting the 19th-seeded Horan, 69-56.5, at the Huntington Beach Pier.

McNulty was among four Orange County surfers who advanced to today’s second round.

Pat O’Connell of Laguna Niguel, another unseeded trialist, upset 21st-seeded Vetea David of Papeete, Tahiti, 62.5-52.3.

Also advancing were 17th-seeded Jeff Booth of Laguna Beach--who defeated San Clemente’s Shane Beschen, 72.3-68.5--and Mike Parsons, who beat Matt Branson of Perth, Australia, 70.5-42. Ninety points is the top score on the tour’s scoring system.

Things won’t get any easier today for McNulty and O’Connell. McNulty will face top-seeded Barton Lynch of Manly, Australia, and O’Connell will meet second-seeded Damien Hardman of Narrabeen, Australia, in the second round.

McNulty had a good start against Horan. He scored a 19.5 (out of 30) on his first wave and led the entire heat. McNulty said he was surprised that Horan, an aggressive surfer, didn’t take more advantage of his experience.

“I was expecting him to hassle me,” McNulty said. “But I didn’t give him an opportunity to. I figured if I had to lose on an interference, I would.”

Terence was the only one of the three McNulty brothers competing to reach the main event. Joe, 21, was eliminated in the first round and Brian, 27, was knocked out in the third round.

“So far, this has been the highlight of my career,” Terence said. “But right now, that’s not saying much.”

Like McNulty, this was O’Connell’s first appearance in an ASP main event.

“It was weird,” he said. “Before the heat, I had so many questions that I just grabbed the rule book and started reading.”

O’Connell’s performance at the Op ended two months of frustration. He lost in the early rounds of the Professional Surfing Assn. of America contests this spring, and was questioning his future in the sport.

“I couldn’t do anything right,” O’Connell said. “Every time I paddled out, I did something wrong.

“It just didn’t feel like the season had started yet. I was still into freesurfing with my friends and not in a contest mode yet.”

During a break from the tour, O’Connell began surfing some local breaks with Ian Cairns, a longtime surfing expert and founder of the Op Pro.

“To hear Ian tell me that I have the talent to do it is a big boost,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell also switched to a different board before the Op, although not by choice. His mom drove her car over his favorite board and broke it a few weeks ago, forcing him to use his old one.

“It was an insane board,” he said. “My mom drove over it, then, backed up over it.

“I was so bummed. I took it out by the curb and started jumping up and down on it. Then I got back on ‘Old Faithful.’ ”

One of the more superstitious surfers at the Op, O’Connell wore a different watch during each heat. He borrowed Jeff Booth’s watch for the heat against David.

Other superstitions have worked for him, too.

“Sometimes I’ll wear the same clothes the whole week of the contest,” he said. “Or I won’t shower. I’d have the stinkiest clothes by the end of the week. No one wanted to sit by me.”

Two years ago, Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., won the Op Junior amateur competition.

Now he’s competing with the big boys.

Slater, 19, an unseeded trialist, won his third-round heat, then upset Graham Wilson of Avalon, Australia, 83.3-69, in the first round of the main event.

Slater, who lives and trains in Huntington Beach in the summer, will meet third-seeded Rob Bain of Manly, Australia, in today’s second round. It’s the first time Bain and Slater have competed against each other.

“I feel I’ve been surfing pretty consistently,” Slater said, “but I haven’t been hitting 100%.”

Notes

Competition resumes at 7 a.m. today with four second-round women’s heats, followed by the second round of the men’s main event at 8:20 a.m. . . . The top 16-seeded surfers are scheduled to compete, including top-seeded Barton Lynch of Manly, Australia, 12th-seeded and defending Op champion Todd Holland of Cocoa Beach, Fla., defending world champion and eight-seeded Tom Curren of Santa Barbara and sixth-seeded and 1989 Op champion Richie Collins of Newport Beach.

Results

Men Round 3

(Top two advance to next round)

Heat 1--1. Victor Ribas (Brazil), 2. Michael Barry (Bundall, Australia), 3. Steve Anest (Ormond Beach, Fla.), 4. Matt Hoy (Newcastle, Australia); Heat 2--1. Terence McNulty (San Clemente), 2. Dino Andino (San Clemente), 3. John Shimooka (Honolulu), 4. Jim Hogan (San Clemente); Heat 3--1. Jeremy Byles (Byron Bay, Australia), 2. Shane Beschen (San Clemente), 3. Shane Powell (Avoca Beach, Australia), 4. Mike Rommelse (Sydney, Australia).

Heat 4--1. Chris Frohoff (Hermosa Beach), 2. Ross Williams (Hawaii), 3. Ryan Alagich (Queenscliff, Australia), 4. Hans Hedemann (Kailua, Hawaii); Heat 5--1. Shane Herring (Australia), 2. Pat O’Connell (Laguna Niguel), 3. Ross Clarke-Jones (Terrigal, Australia), 4. Mark Bannister (Sydney, Australia); Heat 6--1. Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), 2. Mark Sainsbury (Avoca Beach, Australia), 3. Kaipo Jaquias (Hawaii), 4. Vince De La Pena (Laguna Niguel); Heat 7--1. Chris Brown (Santa Barbara), 2. Matt Branson (Perth, Australia), 3. Ted Robinson (Manhattan Beach), 4. Mark Moreno (Huntington Beach); Heat 8--1. Shaun Munro (Lennox Head, Australia), 2. Tony Ray (Torquay, Australia), 3. Chris Gallagher (Santa Cruz), 4. Brian McNulty (Capistrano Beach).

Main event first round

(Winners advance to today’s main event second round)

Heat 1--Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach) d. Beschen, 72.3-68.5; Heat 2--Richard Marsh (Cronulla, Australia) d. Frohoff, 70.3-63.5; Heat 3--T. McNulty d. Cheyne Horan (Palm Beach, Australia), 69-56.5; Heat 4--Flavio Padaratz (Florianopolis, Brazil) d. Brown, 84.5-69.3; Heat 5--O’Connell d. Vetea David (Papeete, Tahiti), 62.5-52.3; Heat 6--Simon Law (Newcastle Australia) d. Williams, 65.5-25; Heat 7--Slater d. Graham Wilson (Avalon, Australia), 83.3-69; Heat 8--Glen Winton (Norah Head, Australia) d. Andino, 67-64.8; Heat 9--Ribas d. Luke Egan (Newcastle, Australia), 77-59.5; Heat 10--Herring won by forfeit over Stuart Bedford-Brown; Heat 11--Munro d. Fabio Gouveia, 74-63; Heat 12--Byles d. Mitch Thorson (Margaret River, Australia), 73.5-58.6; Heat 13--Barry d. Rob Page (Woolongong, Australia), 72-53.5; Heat 14--Sainsbury d. Greg Anderson (Narrabeen, Australia), 62-51; Heat 15--Mike Parsons (San Clemente) d. Branson, 70.5-42; Heat 16--Ray d. Shane Stoneman (San Juan Capistrano), 70-66.

OP PRO MAKES WAVES: Surf’s up in Huntington Beach, where the biggest surfing event in the U.S. continues through Sunday. Details and a daily schedule of events in OC LIVE!, Page 7