PJ Cowan stayed on course for the Bermuda Open title yesterday, opening an eight stroke lead between him and his nearest rival at Port Royal.

The American shot a three under 68 to go with his 67 in the first round to put him on 135 for the tournament -- seven under par.

Fellow Nike Tour professional Joe Daley stroked a one-over 72 for a total of 143, while four players including former Ryder Cup man Ken Green and Bermuda based amateur Mark Dupuy were two shots back on 145.

Cowan admitted he was surprised by the size of his lead, but was still not taking anything for granted after a round in which two bogeys were offset against his five birdies.

"Actually I got lucky,'' he said. "I said yesterday somebody would go low again today and fortunately it was me. But somebody else is going to shoot low tomorrow.

"I think anybody from the pack could do that. It's possible to hit a 62 on this course. I was in position to do that over the last two days but I missed a lot of five to ten-footers.

"On the first day Frankie (Rabain) came off and said `congratulations on the 67 but it should have been 62.' "There are a lot of birdies still out there.

"But I've been driving pretty straight and only missed two fairways. If you get in the rough here it's very hard to get on the greens.'' Dupuy, who added a 73 to Thursday's 72, was, however, not expecting to be the one emerging from the pack.

"He's a long way ahead,'' said Dupuy. "It's an awful lot of shots to make up.

"He's a pretty steady player and I can't see him shooting worse than a couple of 73s. But if someone can get to about five under going into the last day it's possible.

"But I'm really just a recreational weekend player and I'm delighted to have shot a 72 and a 73. To be honest I played a lot better on Thursday, but you're always going to have one day out of four when you're not firing on all cylinders.'' Dupuy might have shot level par, sinking two birdies in his round, but he finished with bogeys at the 17th and 18th.

"Yes, I was disappointed with that. Number 17 is not a good hole to bogey,'' added Dupuy.

Cowan would agree with that. He bogeyed there yesterday after a birdie on the same hole a day earlier but, in mitigation, he played the last three holes in pouring rain and had to wait 20 minutes to get on the tee.

Bermuda's top professional, meanwhile, enjoyed a better day, despite still suffering with a rib injury.

Dwayne Pearman, pro at Ocean View, struck a two over par 73 which, added to his first round 76, puts him 14 shots off the pace.

The cut will be made after the third round today.

Title bid: PJ Cowan's hit a round of 68 yesterday for a total of 135.