Bruce Irons Leaving ASP Tour After ’08

After more than four years on the ASP World Tour, Bruce Irons says he’s leaving at the end of the season to return to freesurfing.

“I’m going back to being a freesurfer,” he says in an interview with Surfing magazine. “It’s what I was meant to do.”

Irons, unlike older brother Andy, has never quite found his footing in the WCT. His best year was arguably 2004, his rookie season. He was only ranked 23rd on the tour, but was named Rookie of the Year and won the Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.

Volcom, one of Irons’ sponsors, released the following statement.

Although this was a difficult decision, Bruce is confident that his choice to leave competition behind is the right one. “I prefer to go back to how I started my whole surfing trip, which is to go on surf trips and make videos.” Volcom is 100% supportive in Bruce’s decision and we’re looking forward to the next step in his career.