slipping away from him here yesterday at the $100,00 Zerox BC Open at Point Grey G.C.

Swan parred the final five holes to finish at three over par 74. He is tied for 85th spot in the 154-man field. Some 105 players are at 74 or better.

The top 60 players plus ties will make the 36-hole cut which is expected to be 143 or 144.

Canadian Bruce Bulina leads the tournament after carding a four under 67. Guy Boros, the leading money-winner on the Candian Tour in 19991 is one of three players at 68. Mike Colandro, winner of the first tour event in Victoria, shot a 75.

Swan made 13 pars, a birdie and four bogeys in a round that saw him hit 10 of 14 fairways, make 11 greens in regulation and use 35 putts.

It was his work on the greens that let him down, Swan said "The only thing that hurt me today was the few putts I missed from inside eight feet,'' he said.

Swan was referring to his only two three-putts of the day, on the third and sixth holes -- plus a missed seven-foot birdie attempt on the 12th and a four-foot par attempt at the 13th that slipped past the cup.

The latter two misses put Swan three over par for the day and forced him to change his strategy.

"At that point I thought I could lose it. I had to regroup. If I had birdied 12, I would have moved back to one over. Instead, I missed that putt, bogeyed the next hole -- and suddenly I,m three over.

"After I missed the putt at 13, I thought I'd better put a grind on and hold the shop, not let the round slip away.'' "I could have ended up six over if I hadn't done that. I just didn't want to end up with a 78 in the first round like last week.'' "I thought if I could hold my score to 74 or 75, I could still shoot 70 tomorrow and make the cut. I'm very happy with the way I played the last five holes.'' Swan did not take a comfortable route to the clubhouse.

He yanked a seven iron left of the green on the 375-yard par four 15th hole, but hit a delicate sand wedge over a grassy mound to two feet and then saved par by holing the putt.

Two holes later a hot six iron got away from Swan at the par-three 17th. But he guided a 55-foot putt to within three feet and then watched as his par attempt stopped on the front lip for a few seconds before dropping into the cup.

But Swan saved his best scrambling job for the final hole. After pulling his drive deep into the left rough and then hitting a five iron into the right rough, Swan hit a 100-yard pitching wedge to six feet and dropped the putt for par.