Jordy Smith set off one of the biggest bidding wars in industry history after winning the World Junior Championship in 2006 and the Qualifying Series in 2007. Though he was being lobbied by the likes of Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan to join Nike, he elected to go with O’Neill, who he’s been with ever since. He earned his first two Championship Tour wins in front of a home-country crowd at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.

The large, powerful regular-footer from Durban who’s famous for speaking his mind is a two-time runner up to the World Title (2010, 2016). But after his breakout 2010 season, where he came second to Kelly Slater, Smith endured a string of injuries that nagged him for five years. In 2015 the issues compounded into serious pain in his back, and he was forced to sit out half the season to mend.

In 2016, his first full year back, he finished runner-up again, this time to John John Florence. Smith turned in three more Top 5 finishes in 2017 and 2018. In 2019 he was selected to represent South Africa at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, and gained yet another top-five finish.

The Tour Veteran married South African model Lyndall Jarvis in 2014 and the couple splits their time between San Clemente, California, the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii and Cape Town, South Africa when Jordy’s not busy competing.