At the end of a lengthy interview following his second straight victory in the Bermuda Open on Sunday, Andrew Pitts asked a favour: Could you, he asked The Royal Gazette , publicly thank the tournament's five sponsors as well as all the volunteers and officials in the annual $50,000 golf tournament? Never mind that he had already done so during the prize presentation, when he picked up a cheque for $12,000. He just wanted to make sure everyone knew how appreciative he was of the kindness and generosity extended to him over the past four days.

Is this guy for real or what? Which is a question a lot of people are asking after Pitts rallied to win the tournament in a three-man play-off at Port Royal for the second year in a row.

Indeed, Pitts' eccentricities were overshadowed by the fact he played some amazing golf on a course and in conditions that befuddled a field of top international and Bermudian pros.

Soft-spoken, unobtrusive and polite almost to a fault, Pitts' win a year ago was put down to a fluke. But two years in a row? This is a player who has never won a major professional tournament anywhere, and this includes on the South African and Asian tours, where he has been playing the past few years.

"I've hung in there a lot longer than a lot of guys have,'' the former North Carolina amateur champion says. "I've definitely paid my dues; now hopefully some good things will happen in the future.'' Today, he opens play at the PGA Qualifying school in Athens, Georgia, searching for the elusive card that will send him onto the PGA Tour. It is the seventh time he has done so; the previous six he didn't even make the finals.

At age 30, he is too old to be classified a rising star although not beyond the age when PGA rookies make their debut. It's this quest that keeps him going.

"I've thought about quitting more than once,'' he says. "But then every once in a while you win a tournament and prove to yourself that you can still play this game well.'' The Bermuda Open just happens to be that tournament. He will play in the lucrative Gene Sarazen World Open in two weeks -- winning the Bermuda tournament gives him a two-year exemption -- and if he flops at Q-school he will once again head to South Africa and Asia.

But he's already made plans to attend next year's Open.

Who wouldn't? He shot 41 on the back nine of Thursday's first round for a score of 75, then followed with rounds of 68, 69 and 71 to finish in a tie with PJ Cowan and Darrell Kestner before finally winning with a bogey on the second play-off hole.

Even Pitts was prepared to admit that there are some mysterious forces at work whenever he sets foot on Port Royal.

"I mean, I made a double and triple (bogey) this week and still won the tournament. That's unheard of,'' he said.

"All in all, I consider myself pretty fortunate.'' Pitts noted that Port Royal was "almost identical'' to his home course, Mimosa Hills, in Morganton, North Carolina; not as hilly but still a mentally-challenging "position course,'' which helps.

Like a lot of players, he says he knows how to play Port Royal. Unlike nearly all of them, he backs it up.

"There are certain holes that you try to make birdies on and there are certain holes you try to make your pars and go quietly and I think I know what holes these are,'' he said.

Pitts is the first to add, however, that "there are 18 potential disaster holes on this golf course.'' That was particularly true on Sunday when a wicked wind from the south wreaked havoc on all the players, most noticeably on the cliff-side 15th and 16th holes.

Not a long hitter, Pitts admitted the addition of a new driver to his repertoire this summer seemed to have helped.

Similarly, Kestner credited a new putter with his 283 total, including 68 and 69 over the final two days.

The pro at Deepdale, New York, he won the US club championship in California last year with a record score of 17-under. It was after last Wednesday's Pro-Am that he switched to a heavier putter with "C-grooves.'' "It gives the ball a better roll on these slower Bermuda greens, which I'm not used to,'' he said.

This was his first time in Bermuda and like Pitts, Kestner, who came to Bermuda as a guest of the Scrymgeour family, is planning next year's appearance.

His golf career has taken he and his wife all over the world but "this is one of the prettiest places we've ever been,'' he said.

ANDREW PITTS -- Back-to-back wins over a top field in the Bermuda Open have convinced the quiet North Carolinan not to give up on golf just yet.