Surfer Macaulay claims first senior win

Australia's Bronte Macaulay has claimed her first senior world surfing tournament victory, winning the second-tier Los Cabos Open in Mexico.

Macaulay, 21, took out the qualifying series event on Sunday, overtaking Ecuador's Dominic Barona with two late wave scores of 6.50 and 8.17 in the final to win by just 0.77.

"I'm just over the moon to win this event," Macaulay said.

"It's really exciting when you get a wave like that in the final minutes and post the score you need.

"I was making a lot of errors and had to keep pushing myself through. Can't believe I just won my first QS6000 - it hasn't really even sunk in yet."

Western Australian Macaulay has already soaked up some time in the top-tier competition this year, filling in as injury replacement and reaching the fourth round on four occasions.

However Sunday's maiden victory shot her up to second in the 2016 Qualifying Series, behind only fellow-Australian Nikki Van Dijk.

The top six surfers from the series automatically qualify for next year's Championship Tour, with points from each competitor's five highest finishes only counting towards the rankings.

"These points are really valuable in order to qualify which is my (goal) this year," Macaulay said.

"Getting that experience in the CT has just helped so much and what it takes to beat these amazing women."