HALE‘IWA — Andy Irons won the Triple Crown of Surfing title on Thursday, his fourth in five years.

The Kaua‘i native clinched the prestigious title before he even got into the water after Australia’s Taj Burrow was eliminated in the third round of the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters.

The finals were set to take place later in the day.

The Pipeline Masters is the third of three events in the Triple Crown series. Irons won the Op Pro Hawaii competition at Alii Beach Park and took third in the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach.

In the overall Triple Crown rankings, Joel Parkinson of Australia was second, Fredrick Patacchia of Hawai‘i third and Burrow fourth as of Thursday morning.

Irons also won the Triple Crown in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

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(Source: Kauai Garden Island News)