However, given this is Tyler Wright we're talking about, Courtney had to win the entire event to do it, which seems appropriate under the circumstances. 

Tyler's large lead on the rankings is still intact, thanks to her four wins but Courtney has kept her faint chances at a World Title alive.

Wright may still be in pole position, but she'll have to wait to take the title.

Courtney came to Cascais as the defending event champion, and she played the part well this week.

Courtney was seeping confidence, and perhaps that confidence was felt by Tyler Wright, who seemed unable to click into gear.

It might have also had something to do with their strategy, with Tyler sitting a few hundred metres down from Courtney and the two women surfing their own contests without even seeing each other throughout.

Tyler was her usual strong self, with her low-slung power hacks and drawn out carves, but Courtney had been surfing with sheer abandonment, throwing huge turns and even getting a solid barrel in her Semifinal. Her strategy in the final was the one that worked.

"I figured just stick to what I know," said Courtney of the sand bank she chose to surf on.

"I was happy with the consistency of the lineup."

It worked, with Courtney getting good waves off the bat, including a solid 8.17.

She climbed into an early lead, and hung in there all the way until the end, while Tyler struggled to find any waves of consequence on the south bank for most of the heat.

"I'm so thrilled to be back on the podium," said Courtney on the beach.

"Conditions kept changing, and I got a bit lost out there, but I'm stoked to win it."

Looking back, there were a whole lot of world title expectations when the women hit the water for their quarter-finals in the morning.

Large surf, bigger than yesterday with no jet ski assist, light to no-wind conditions, west swell, and lefts and rights just reeling all over the beach, it was a day of opportunity.

Tyler, to get that world title however,  needed to advance all the way through to the final and Courtney needed to get eliminated before the semi-finals.

In other words, if Courtney won her quarter-final heat, the title race would go to France.

She won all right, scoring a 9.80 for the best wave of the day.

Picking up a solid left-hander, Courtney cracked it on the outside before going for broke and launching over a massive shore-dump section, riding over the roof before plummeting down a mine shaft and emerging amid a shower of whitewater and a roar from the beach.

"I was thinking that this is like a make-or-break round, and I have nothing to lose and everything to gain so I might as well go for it," a visibly thrilled Courtney said after the heat, knowing that the title was going to the next event after that heat.

"I just compressed, and used my legs as springs."

That move, and that ride, is essentially what took the world title race away from the Cascais Women's Pro and on to the next event.

The noted difference between the two surfers was their radical difference in mood and approach throughout the day.

Tyler seemed somber, thoughtful, with a game-face in interviews and confidently telling everyone that she knew what had to be done to win.

It was determination, and she wanted the win regardless of world titles.

Courtney, on the other hand, was light-hearted on camera.

She laughed during post-heat interviews, enjoying the moment.

 Tyler couldn't buy a wave out there, but toward the end of the heat she picked up some good ones and clawed her way back to a respectable finish and she was graceful in defeat.

"Looking it over I would have done it again," said Tyler of her game plan.

"I'm stoked for Courtney annd he's doing so well this year."

On the world title race now heading for France, Tyler was still upbeat.

"I have the same goal in France and that is to win every heat and win the final. I'll take what I can from this event, and start all over again and do my thing," Tyler said.

“ I've never been more psyched on surfing or doing heats.

“I've been on the tour for six years and I've never learned so much in my entire life."