IT WAS a long time coming, but Dwayne Pearman's second Bermuda Open victory at the weekend might have been much sweeter than his first 14 years ago.

Back then, Pearman was still a young professional working out of Port Royal who likely thought one national championship would be followed by many more, and perhaps even greater success overseas.

Sadly, while the Ocean View pro has been far and away the best player in domestic tournaments for a decade or more, that talent hasn't been reflected in either silverware or prize-money.

For sure, he's creamed the field on many occasions in Bermuda PGA events, made his mark in the Belmont Invitation and various Pro-Ams such as the Goodwill and Lobster Pot, but the Open - by virtue of the field it attracts - has to be considered the pinnacle.

While, as Kim Swan was at pains to point out, the island championship will never bring in the leading Tour pros because of its limited purse ($60,000), it still attracts some quality players.

Among those who Pearman had to beat over the weekend were men such Mike Donald, who will forever be remembered for a heartbreaking loss to Hale Irwin in the 1990 US Open play-off, Patrick Horgan who won the Bermuda Open before embarking on a career on the PGA Tour, Canadian Dan Halldorson, another Tour player, Bill Longmuir, a regular on the European Tour, and of course the evergreen Tim Conley who in addition to his slew of Bermuda tournament wins has competed successfully on both the former Nike Tour and PGA Tour.

All of the above have teed it up with the best in the world and enjoyed their moments on the big stage.

And it's a great pity that Pearman wasn't afforded the same opportunities in his early and mid 20s that the Island's other leading pro, Michael Sims, is now enjoying in the US.

Sims, of course, skipped the Open as he successfully negotiated the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying school last week.

Even with his 40th birthday approaching next month, Pearman probably wished he'd been in position to do likewise.

But as he's stressed so many times before, a club professional's lot in Bermuda isn't always what it's cracked up to be.

Commitments at Ocean View, to his wife, two young children and, not least, the expense of travelling to qualifying events overseas have always restricted any efforts to take his undoubted talents to the next level.

And it's unlikely Sunday's Open victory, where he held off a fast-charging Conley, will change any of that.

"I guess I'm getting better with age," smiled Pearman as he savoured his latest triumph.

"But it doesn't change much. There's still the same old problems . . . permanent job, two children and a wife. I have a lot of commitments and they have to come first. "Yeah, I'd like to go away and try to get into a few Buy.com Tour events. But I'll think about it for a while. I've nothing lined up. I'm not making any plans at the moment."

Would his win in the Open help attract additional sponsorship?

"Maybe somebody will come forward, you never know," he shrugged, seemingly resigned to the fact that his immediate future, at least, lies at Ocean View.

Always a straight driver and a sound putter, Pearman admitted that hard work on the practice range had much to do with his performance at Port Royal.

"My swing's not really changed. I'm too old for that," he said. "I made just a slight adjustment at impact and it kind of helped me out a lot.

"I felt pretty solid right through the tournament.

"Actually I've been playing pretty good the last couple of months, maybe hitting the ball the best I've ever hit it, but I hadn't been able to put it all together.

"But I knew if I kept playing, I'd get a break. I've been patient.

"And in any case we haven't had any big tournaments here lately. I've just been waiting for the Open."

Taking a three-stroke lead into the final round which he soon stretched to four, Pearman says he wasn't particularly nervous when Conley cut into that advantage, and eventually drew level on the 16th.

"I don't think I got nervous once. I can't control what other players do. I can only hit fairways and greens, and I knew I was putting well. I just played my own game."

His 'own game' produced a birdie on 17 which in effect wrapped up the title.

"I guess if there was a key, it was my driving," recalled Pearman. "I drove the ball really well. But those birdies on 14 and 17 in the last round were crucial. They came at the right time."

And the championship itself, not before time . . .

l YET another Bermuda youngster is making his mark overseas. Eric West, now attending the University of California in Berkeley, recently finished a creditable 19th in the Alister MacKenzie Invitational which attracted a student field of more than 80.

West, competing as an individual and not as a member of the school team, posted rounds of 72, 70 and 73 for a 54-hole total of two-over par 215 at the par-71 Meadow Club in Fairfax, California.