and 59 amateurs take to the Port Royal course in the 72-hole Bermuda Open Tournament.

Fieger is included in the field which numbers 44 pros and 27 amateurs from overseas and 32 local amateurs, and eight professionals. He won by the slimmest margin last year when he hung on to beat Canadian professional Craig Marseilles by one stroke.

Now Marseilles is one of those aiming to spoil Fieger's dream of a repeat.

Marseilles arrived in Bermuda yesterday from his winter base near West Palm Beach in Florida, and will play in today's Pro-Am event.

"I haven't been playing all that great in a little while,'' said Marseilles who has been a pro for only three years. His preparation has been hampered in the last week by constant rain in Florida.

"I rate my chances pretty good as long as I can drive it straight,'' a confident Marseilles says.

Marseilles, 35, came from four strokes behind on the final round last year to get within one stroke of the new champion.

"I was pretty pleased to get that close,'' Marseilles admits.

"If I can get up and down when I hit the greens, that's the key,'' he says.

"I want to keep my bogeys down to a minimum. This is one of the best tournaments I've played in.

"It is one of my favourite courses. It ranks up there with any course we play on the Canadian tour or the mini tour in Florida -- as good or better.'' The event, which has a total purse of $40,000, including $10,000 to the winner, is sponsored this year by the Bermuda Angle Group which includes international companies ACE Ltd, Exel Ltd, Mid Ocean Ltd and Mutual Risk Management Ltd. Last year there was some $35,000 in prize money of which $8,600 went to the then 32-year-old Fieger in his first crack at the title.

Not since local Kim Swan repeated in 1984 has a champion retained his title in the Open which, in the past decade has steadily grown in popularity. This year the overseas competitors have come from as far away as Germany, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Jamaica, Trinidad and the Bahamas in the Caribbean region.

As well as Fieger and Marseilles the overseas list includes Jeff Lewis, the 1985 winner and Bob Mucham who won in '89.

One of Scotland's leading pros, Martin Gray is also here as is Ceberd Walker, the president of the Jamaica PGA and Peter McCutcheon, a past winner of the Quebec Open.

The bulk of both the visiting professionals and amateurs are from the United States. The top amateurs from overseas include scratch players Dr. Mort Bertram of Connecticut, one handicappers Dirk Fennie of Pinehurst National GC in North Carolina, Peter Leslie from Rolling Green GC in Pennsylvania, Sammy Levinson of Greenville CC, Kentucky and Jonathan Marks of Woodbridge, Suffolk in England.

There is a group of seven amateurs and two professionals coming in for the Open from Concorde CC in Pennsylvania.

Dwayne Pearman, who recently won the Johnnie Walker Classic at Ocean View, will lead Bermuda's hopes. Pearman was the last local to win the tournament, in 1988, though three-time winner Kim Swan ('78, 83, 84), Eardley Jones ('81) and Frankie Rabain ('77) have all tasted success in Bermuda's premier golf tournament.

Pearman and Swan are both representing Bermuda at next month's World Cup in Orlando.

Hav Trott is back after a long absence from the Open having lived in England for a number of years, and together with Dr. Robert Vallis and Scott Mayne will lead the local amateurs.

Mayne will be competing in his first major tournament since January of last year having now regained his amateur status, though he did say this week that he does not expect to be competitive.

Mayne and Vallis are scratch handicappers while Trott plays off a three handicap.