Waves went down, and the winners went Down Under at the Banzai Pipeline yesterday.

On a day of diminished waves, Australia's Taj Burrow rose to the occasion by winning the Billabong Pipeline Masters for the first time in his career.

"It's 100 percent as good as you could imagine," said Burrow, 31. "It's the next best thing to a world title for me. It's the one and only event that everyone, I think, would pick to win."

Burrow is a perennial top-10 surfer with previous victories around the world. But until yesterday, he had never won a contest in Hawai'i in his 11-year pro career.

"This is as good as it gets," he said.

It helped that he beat the master of the Pipeline Masters — Kelly Slater — in the one-on-one final.

The final day of the contest was run in wave-face heights of 6 to 10 feet at the Banzai Pipeline off Ehukai Beach. By the time the final started in the early afternoon, the conditions deteriorated, and the famous Pipeline barrels were almost non-existent.

Instead, the final turned into a showcase for futuristic maneuvers

"One hundred percent, I was out there looking to do turns, and I definitely wanted to do some airs down at the end section," Burrow said. "It was all about big turns, and my plan was to kind of let loose."

The plan worked from the start, as Burrow found a wave in the opening minutes and received a score of 7.0 (out of 10) for completing a series of sharp turns. It gave him a lead he would not relinquish.

"I had to try to keep myself calm because Taj had the Aussie crew down there screaming their heads off," Slater said. "I thought, well, just calm down and something will come, and it just never did."

Ultimately, there were only a few quality waves, as evidenced by the final score.

Burrow won the 35-minute final with a two-wave total of 12.83 to Slater's 7.10.

"It's difficult to transition when you're expecting one thing and you already had a couple of heats with barrels and all of a sudden it's completely different conditions," Slater said. "You don't expect that out here much."

Slater found a small barreling wave in the closing minutes of the heat, but received a score of just 3.93.

"I thought it would be more than a 3," he said. "That was a little frustrating."

Slater already owns a record six Pipeline Masters championships and a record nine world titles.

"Kelly can do anything here," Burrow said. "With 20 seconds to go ... I was still scared."

Burrow received $90,000 for the victory — $40,000 from contest sponsor Billabong, and a $50,000 bonus as part of the "Vans Triple Crown Triple Threat."

Fellow Australian Joel Parkinson was eliminated from the Pipeline Masters in the third round last week, but clinched his second Vans Triple Crown of Surfing championship yesterday.

Parkinson's elimination in the third round also cost him a shot at the 2009 world title.

"This is my consolation prize," he said with a laugh while holding the Triple Crown trophy. "To me the Triple Crown is the next best thing (to the world title). I'm over the moon, really happy with what happened this year."

Parkinson is the first non-Hawai'i surfer to win back-to-back Triple Crown championships in the 27-year history of the series.

The Triple Crown title goes to the best overall surfer in the three North Shore events held in November and December.

Parkinson also received a $50,000 bonus as part of the Vans Triple Crown Triple Threat.

A third $50,000 check went to world champion Mick Fanning, meaning Australian surfers swept the Triple Crown Triple Threat bonuses.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the Pipeline Masters were completed yesterday.

Flynn Novak of O'ahu's North Shore was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Slater. Novak was the only Hawai'i surfer to make it to the final day of the contest.

The Pipeline Masters also served as the final event of the 2009 ASP World Tour, so it determined the final roster for the 2010 tour.

Hawai'i surfers qualifying for the elite world tour in 2010 are: Fred Patacchia Jr., Kekoa Bacalso, Roy Powers, Dusty Payne and Andy Irons.

Patacchia was Hawai'i's top surfer in 2009, finishing at No. 15.

BILLABONG PIPELINE MASTERS

FINAL RESULTS

1, Taj Burrow (Australia), $90,000. 2, Kelly Slater (Florida), $24,000. 3 (tie), Dean Morrison (Australia) and Dane Reynolds (California), $14,000. 5 (tie), Damien Hobgood (Florida), Flynn Novak (Hawai'i), Bede Durbidge (Australia) and C.J. Hobgood (Australia), $9,000.

2009 ASP WORLD TOUR

FINAL STANDINGS

1, Mick Fanning (Australia). 2, Joel Parkinson (Australia). 3, Bede Durbidge (Australia). 4, Taj Burrow (Australia). 5, Adriano de Souza (Brazil). 6, Kelly Slater (Florida). 7, C.J. Hobgood (Florida). 8, Bobby Martinez (California). 9, Damien Hobgood (Florida). 10, Dane Reynolds (California). Hawai'i surfers: 15, Fred Patacchia Jr. 18, Kekoa Bacalso. 26, Roy Powers. 38, Dustin Barca.