final round of the Belmont Invitational will be a mere formality.

Conley extended his lead over the Island pro to six strokes when he shot a 68 yesterday, his highest score of the three days.

The top two players are clearly very fond of each other, having been roommates in the 1980s when they played together in tournaments in Canada and Florida.

However, generosity must stop somewhere and Conley intends to see to it that no favours are given to "Blondie'' today.

"We were both sponsored by Don Panos (of Chateau Elan in Atlanta) and for a couple of years we were roommates...about ten years ago,'' Conley recalled as he sat in the Belmont clubhouse chatting to Pearman.

"I call him Blondie and he calls me Buckwheat. I'll be nice to him but we are both professionals and know what we have to do.'' Despite the six-stroke gap, Conley is taking nothing for granted as he chases his fourth title in the last six years. Fran Marello, a further three strokes back, could pounce if he slips up.

"Dwayne could shoot a 60 easily,'' Conley said. "I'm going to try to shoot a 66 and if he shoots a 59 he can have it and then buy me dinner.'' Conley almost had his third straight 66. He was four under with three holes to go but missed short putts on the 16th and 18th holes.

"We're both not making as many putts as we would like to. Dwayne needs to get off to a good start. I know he will be there waiting for me to make a mistake.'' Pearman actually dropped his four shots on the front nine as he went out in two-over par 34 while Conley was two-under following four birdies and two bogeys. Pearman matched the leader on the back nine when both carded even par 36s but by then the damage had already been done.

"I'm not having the best of time putting,'' said Pearman.

"On the front nine I missed a few greens but on the back nine I picked it up a bit but my putter was still cold. Putting is the scoring part of the game and if you're not putting, you're not scoring.'' Pearman's first birdie did not come until the tenth hole when a miss from four feet cost him an eagle for the second straight day.

"Golf is a strange game. You take what comes to you and keep going,'' Pearman said.

It would appear that Conley has the $4,000 first place already sewn up, leaving Pearman and visiting pros Marello and Tom Sullivan to battle for the second place cheque of $2,800. Pearman is on 206, Marello 209 and Sullivan on 210.

Lingering further back are Paul Parajeckas on 213 and Bermudian Barry DeCouto on 217. The latter followed a splendid 66 on Tuesday with a disappointing 77 yesterday.

Also on 217 is Bermudian pro Eardley Jones who leads the seniors by just two strokes over long-time visitor Joe Carr, who closed the gap with his 73 while Jones shot 78, having carded a 69 the day before.

Last year's amateur winner, Nicholas Mansell, leads that division on 221, one stroke ahead of Ronnie Milton and two ahead of Zane DeSilva and Douglas (Blip) Morris on 223.