The waves and the big names finally appeared on the third day of the Op Pro Hawai'i men's surfing contest.

After nearly two weeks of flat conditions, the waves grew to the 3- to 5-foot range yesterday at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach.

"It's not the Hale'iwa you want, but at least there's waves," Kaua'i's Bruce Irons said.

The Op Pro is the first event in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, and yesterday's conditions were closer to Triple Crown standards than the first two days of competition.

And it was appropriate, since the top-seeded surfers finally got to compete after receiving byes on the first two days.

After the fifth round of heats was completed yesterday, only 32 surfers remain in contention. Among them are five from Hawai'i: defending Triple Crown champion Andy Irons, his younger brother Bruce Irons, and Hawai'i surfers Roy Powers, Joel Centeio and Fred Patacchia Jr.

"I want to do well in the Triple Crown," Andy Irons said. "I won last year, so I want to defend that title and hopefully win it again."

The 2006 world championship has already been decided — Florida's Kelly Slater clinched it last month. But that means the surfers are now focusing on the prestigious Triple Crown championship, which goes to the best overall performer in the three North Shore contests.

"The world title is not on the line, so the pressure's off," Andy Irons said. "I can just relax and have fun with it."

His younger brother has a similar outlook.

"The Triple Crown is the goal," Bruce Irons said. "Just try to do good in every event — that's a hard thing to do here in Hawai'i."

Bruce Irons got off to a good start yesterday, scoring a near-perfect 9.17 (out of 10) in his fifth-round victory.

"This wave is really, really tricky," he said. "It takes a lot to figure it out, and if you don't know it, you'll miss sections and you'll miss scores."

Of the five Hawai'i surfers remaining in the contest, three are from Hanalei, Kaua'i — the Irons brothers and Powers.

"There's waves, you just have to choose the right ones," Powers said. "You have to find the one that has a wall set up to allow you to get a few turns."

Australians Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow also surfed yesterday, and both proved worthy of their lofty rankings by dominating their respective heats.

Fanning is currently ranked No. 2 in the world behind Slater. Burrow is No. 3.

"To tell you the truth, I'm just going for the Triple Crown," said Fanning, who placed second to Andy Irons in the Triple Crown race last year. "It's the second thing in my life, other than the world crown, that I really want to achieve."

The Op Pro Hawai'i is also a World Qualifying Series contest, so many surfers need strong showings to earn points.

Powers, for example, is currently ranked No. 25 on the WQS. He needs a strong showing in the Op Pro to climb into the top 16 of the WQS to retain his spot on the elite World Championship Tour (the top performers on the WQS at the end of the year get called up to the WCT).

"I'm on the bubble," Powers said. "But if you're going to have a chance, Hawai'i is the place you want to do it."

There were some significant surfers eliminated yesterday. Most notable, defending Op Pro champion Pancho Sullivan from Sunset Beach lost by a half-point in his fifth-round heat.

Wai'anae's Sunny Garcia, who has a record six Triple Crown championships, was also eliminated in the fifth round.

Slater did not enter the Op Pro, but is expected to compete in the next Triple Crown event at Sunset Beach.

The Op Pro is expected to finish today at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach. For status of the contest, call 596-7873 or visit www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.