The big waves didn't come through, but the big names did on the second day of the Billabong Pipeline Masters contest yesterday.

Kaua'i's Andy Irons, Florida's Kelly Slater, and Australians Joel Parkinson and Bede Durbidge were among the standouts yesterday.

The second and third rounds were completed in barreling waves of 4 to 6 feet at the Banzai Pipeline.

Irons was competing for the first time in three months, but still showed the form that won him three previous world championships and four Pipeline Masters contests.

"The Pipe Masters is an important contest for me," he said. "It's one of my favorites and I always want to do well in it."

Irons skipped the last three World Championship Tour contests for personal reasons, so yesterday was his first heat since early September.

He defeated Australia's Dean Morrison in the third round, scoring a near-perfect 9.87 (out of 10) for a long barrel ride late in the heat.

"The wave lined up all the way, I just had to make sure I made it all the way to the end," he said.

Slater was making his first appearance since he clinched the 2008 world championship in Spain on Oct. 3. Like Irons, Slater showed no signs of rust.

He had a two-wave total of 17.77 (a 9.1 and a 8.67) in his third-round victory over Ezra Sitt of Sunset Beach.

"It almost feels like it's been ages since the (world) title finished," Slater said. "I'm not in that contest mode. If I won or lost that heat, it wouldn't have made a difference to me, to be honest with you. I'm just relaxed and enjoying my surfing."

Slater already holds records of nine world championships and five Pipeline Masters championships, and said he wouldn't mind seeing somebody else prevail at Pipeline this year.

That could be Parkinson, who was in perfect form yesterday.

Parkinson, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the world, received two perfect 10s for two exceptionally long barrel rides in his third-round victory.

"It's not something you hear about every day, so I'd never really thought about doing it," he said. "I definitely claimed it like I had won an event for a second, but then I had to settle down and tell myself, 'All you did was make a heat.' "

Parkinson is just the second surfer in the history of the world tour to receive a perfect two-wave score of 20. Slater did it at a contest in Tahiti in 2005.

Parkinson's perfection eliminated Maui's Dusty Payne from the contest.

The Pipeline Masters is the third, and final, contest in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Payne is still the Triple Crown leader, but Parkinson now has a shot to win it.

Durbidge, the defending Pipeline Masters and Triple Crown champion, also advanced.

Of the 16 surfers remaining in the contest, five are from Hawai'i: Irons, Marcus Hickman, Jamie O'Brien, Kamalei Alexander and Evan Valiere.

"It's a little smaller than what we would like," said Alexander, who upset No. 3 Taj Burrow of Australia. "But everybody has to surf the same waves so you just go out there and do it."

Bruce Irons was eliminated in the third round by Australia's Tom Whitaker. Needing a 6.64 to advance, Irons received a 6.5 in the closing seconds.

Irons has announced that he is retiring from the world tour.

"It's a bit of a shallow victory for me," Whitaker said. "When Bruce caught that wave, I thought for sure he pulled his magic again."

One more day of competition is required to determine a champion. For updates visit www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.

FOURTH-ROUND PAIRINGS

Heat 1: Marcus Hickman (Hawai'i) vs. Luke Stedman (Australia). Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (Australia) vs. Tim Reyes (California). Heat 3: Kelly Slater (Florida) vs. Kieren Perrow (Australia). Heat 4: Aritz Aranburu (Basque) vs. Jamie O'Brien (Hawai'i). Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (Australia) vs. Adriano de Souza (Brazil). Heat 6: Tom Whitaker (Australia) vs. Kamalei Alexander (Hawai'i). Heat 7: Chris Ward (California) vs. Bede Durbidge (Australia). Heat 8: Evan Valiere (Hawai'i) vs. Andy Irons (Hawai'i).