Amid tricky conditions at Sunset Point, New Zealand natives Ricardo Christie and Billy Stairmand powered to Round One wins at the Vans World Cup. After making his debut on the Championship Tour in 2015, Christie has been grinding on the Qualifying Series in hope of reclaiming his spot on the elite Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour. While he may not qualify this season, he needs to do as much damage as possible at Sunset in order to secure a solid seed for 2017.
Stairmand, on the other hand, was still in contention for a spot on the CT heading into the Sunset. But sitting at No. 49 on the QS rankings, he needed a miracle win at the Vans World Cup. Unfortunately, he went down later in Round Two.