Dwayne Pearman rallied from one down with four holes left to play to win the the Fritz Reiter/Lobster Pot BPGA Matchplay Championships at Belmont Hills on Saturday.

The Ocean View pro again relied on a flawless short game in the clutch to brush aside a spirited challenge from Andrew Trott, winning one-up after a see-saw battle over 36 holes in ideal weather conditions.

With Trott holding a slim lead heading down the stretch, and his more senior rival running out of real estate, Pearman's push for victory gathered momentum when he recovered from a bad tee shot to halve the 32nd hole.

Pearman's tee shot hit got a "fortunate" kick off a rubber tree and then an excellent chip shot onto the green left him with a ten-foot putt which he sank for par while Trott missed a crucial birdie attempt to pave the way for his rival's late dramatics.

"I could have easily gone two-down had it not been for my short game. I hit a bad tee shot but managed to chip it out about 35 yards to the green while he (Trott) was about 12 feet putting for birdie. I managed to get up and down to halve the hole while he missed his birdie putt," recalled Pearman.

"But I think had I gone two down right there then that would have made it a lot easier for him. That hole was the real turning point in the match."

Pearman won the very next hole to draw level with his opponent and surged ahead on the 34th before clinching the tournament with a seven-foot putt on the final hole to avenge the previous year's defeat to Chris Smith in the final.

"My short game was just incredible this week. It has definitely been a challenging tournament," added Pearman.

Last week saw the veteran pro edge David James (six and five), defeat long-time friend Kim Swan in the quarter-finals over four extra holes before ousting defending champion Smith (five and four) in the semi-finals.

"Those were tough matches which all went right down to the wire. But I just had to grind out all week and fortunately I just seemed to get stronger and stronger with each passing day," Pearman said.

The multiple Bermuda Open champion also paid tribute to Trott.

"I respect his game and I am sure he respects mine," Pearman added. "But it could have gone either way. We both played well and had chances but it went right down to the wire. A couple of times I was two-up on him and then he would go up on me. It was always close and never a runaway type of deal."

Trott concurred.

"Dwayne and I always seem to go head-to-head whether it be strokeplay or matchplay and this was one I felt I could win," said Trott, who defeated Twilton Smith four and three to reach the final.

"We both played good golf out there."

The pair produced a combined 21 birdies and an eagle over 36 holes of "phenomenal" golf.

Trott added: "We were able to feed off each other and played well off each other which took us to all even with three to play.

"And it was so nice to play in a competition where we both played so well and iy could go either way."

Meanwhile, Twilton Smith defeated Chris Smith two-up to lay claim to third place honours.