tournament after yesterday's third round, as overnight leader Tim Conley maintained a two- stroke lead heading into today's final round.

After a picture perfect first two days of near total calm, yesterday saw breezes heighten and the scores reflected this change with no competitor managing to break par.

Conley shot his worst total of the week, a three-over-par 73, giving him a three round score of 208, two ahead of defending champion Fran Marello who likewise carded 73 over the par-70 lay-out.

Moving into third at 213 was local professional Dwayne Pearman after notching a one-over-par 71.

Pearman was optimistic of his chances of catching Conley, but admitted all was not in his hands.

"Today was respectable. It's (five strokes back) not a bad spot to be in,'' said Pearman, who has been dogged by neck problems over the past two years that have adversely affected his play. "`I'll just go out and try shoot a low number, maybe 62 or 63.

"All I can do is go do the best I can and hope for something to happen.

"This week I'm hitting the ball better than I would have expected, but I'm not scoring well. My putter is letting me down as usual.

"I haven't played much this year and I'm just surprised to be even hitting the ball this well. I've been so busy with other things and I'm just trying to get my game back together.'' After stunning the field with a blistering two-under-par 68 amateur Nick Mansell returned to the fold, but his 74 kept him atop his division and fourth overall at 215, with Tim Carr the next amateur at 219 following a 76 on the day.

Instead stealing the `low-score' spotlight were pros Barry DeCouto and Paul Barkhouse, both making the journey at even-par 70.

DeCouto, participating in his first Belmont Invitational as a professional, showed glimpses of the form he is capable of, recording four birdies at holes two, six, 12 and 15, but undermined those with bogeys at one, five, nine and 18.

"I was just trying to hit as many greens as I could and make the putts,'' said DeCouto, playing on his home course. "I hit the ball very good and struck many of the greens and then it was up to me to make the putts, which I did today.

"I did today what I set in my mind to do and ended up shooting a good round.'' However, standing 12 shots adrift of the top spot he conceded winning is out of his reach, however his goals were always more modest.

"I came in looking at a target of finishing in the top 10, so I'm within my target.'' SO CLOSE -- Local pro Keith Smith frowns after missing a putt yesterday.