Sunny Garcia's quest for redemption — and a seventh Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title — started in impressive fashion yesterday.

The Wai'anae surfer was one of the standouts on the opening day of the Reef Hawaiian Pro yesterday at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach. The first round was run in clean wave-face heights that ranged from 4 to 9 feet.

The Reef Hawaiian Pro is the opening event of the prestigious Triple Crown series.

"I've been surfing events here at Hale'iwa for the last 28 years," said Garcia, 37. "I was surfing here before a lot of these guys were born. This is my favorite event; this is my favorite wave on the North Shore."

His experience was evident in his first-round victory.

He received a near-perfect score of 9.5 (out of 10) after completing a series of powerful carves along the open section of one of the bigger waves of the day. It was the best score awarded for the day.

"I had something to prove," Garcia said. "So I guess everybody got the point."

Garcia already owns a record six Triple Crown championships, and is intensely focused on making it seven.

Earlier this year, he served three months in a federal prison and six months of house arrest for tax evasion.

"I'm not here just to show face," Garcia said. "I want to win."

Several companies stopped sponsoring Garcia during his nine months away from the sport.

"I want to show a lot of people that you can make comebacks, and you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it," he said.

His was not the only stellar performance turned in yesterday.

Nathan Carroll of Sunset Beach had the best heat of the day, receiving scores of 9.33 and 8.17 on his two best waves for a total of 17.5.

"I want to win the Triple Crown — that's my ultimate goal," said Carroll, 22. "I'm not in it for second place."

Carroll's performance was impressive when considering he didn't have much practice time in recent weeks.

Two weeks ago, he cut his foot on the reef while surfing at Rocky Point. Last week, he got a mild concussion after falling off his skateboard.

"I actually haven't been surfing too much the past few weeks," Carroll said. "So I was really looking forward to this, just getting back out there."

Jason Shibata of Pearl City said he accomplished one of his goals just by surfing in the first round yesterday.

"This is the first round and you have two former world champions in there," he said of Garcia and Derek Ho. "That kind of tells you right there how tough the playing field is."

Shibata proved his worth, winning his heat with a two-wave total of 14.1.

"It's not ideal Hale'iwa, but it's definitely contestable conditions," he said. "This is better than 90 percent of the contests I surfed this year around the world."

The top seeds in the contest received byes yesterday, including newly crowned world champion Mick Fanning of Australia and two-time defending Triple Crown champion Andy Irons of Kaua'i.

"These early rounds are a battle," North Shore surfer Love Hodel said after advancing out of his first-round heat with a last-minute wave. "But it's exciting to think you can move on to take on some of those heavy hitters. To me, taking down some of those top guys and winning this event would be almost as gratifying as winning a world title."

Other standouts from yesterday's heats included Maui's Dusty Payne, Australian Nic Muscroft and Brazil's Bruno Santos.

Among the surfers eliminated were Derek Ho and former Triple Crown champion Myles Padaca.

The second round of the Reef Hawaiian Pro could run today, conditions permitting. For status of the contest, call 596-7873 or visit www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.

HAMILTON ADVANCES IN WOMEN'S DIVISION

Shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton of Kaua'i advanced to the second round of the women's division of the Reef Hawaiian Pro.

The first round of the women's contest was also run yesterday at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach.

Hamilton, who lost her left arm in a shark attack in 2003, placed second her first-round heat to advance.

Fellow Kaua'i surfer Alana Blanchard won a trials heat to get into the contest, then proceeded to win her first- round heat.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.