prevent Ocean View's professional Dwayne Pearman from retaining the Ashworth Bermuda PGA Championship trophy at Mid Ocean.

Pearman, winner of the event a year ago when he finished four strokes ahead of Swan, this time scored a more emphatic victory -- finishing seven strokes ahead of the St. George's Golf Club professional with a four-round total of 302. Swan followed with a 309 while Keith Smith was third on 310.

The tournament was virtually a foregone conclusion going onto the final round with Pearman leading by eight strokes and Swan needing the leader to make a miraculous slip and requiring his own game to reach unlimited heights to stand a ghost of a chance. But that never happened.

Swan did in fact have a better day's round with a four-over-par 75, but Pearman's modest five-over-par 76 was still good enough to land him the goods and brush aside the challenge of his main rival.

It was in fact Pearman's fourth PGA crown, having enjoyed previous successes in 1987, '91 and '93. Swan admitted his hopes hinged on a big improvement after a disappointing round.

"I knew I needed to shoot under-par the last two rounds in order to make any gain on Dwayne and I didn't,'' said Swan. "I did pretty good on Thursday with a one-over-par 72, but yesterday I missed four putts in a row from the ninth and it killed me.'' Swan, who praised Pearman for capturing the title a second straight year, said that it was an uphill climb for himself after the opening round when he shot a miserable 87.

"It was big challenge, but I still thought I did pretty good after that disastrous round,'' confided Swan. "I hit the ball pretty good, but my putting was shaky, especially in the final round yesterday.'' For awhile though during the final round Swan's game was rejuvenated when he pulled within five strokes of the leader, but he faltered badly from the ninth when the four missed putts set him back.

"It started when I missed a four-footer on the ninth, then things went downhill,'' he recalled, "I just did not apply the pressure when I had the opportunity.'' The victory was an added boost for Pearman who leaves this weekend to participate in the Crystal Pro-Am in the Bahamas. He collected $1,350 for first prize while Swan got $900 for second and Smith $730 for third.

Lloyd James finished fourth on 318 and collected $615 while Joe Cheeseman was fifth on 325 and Cornell Bean sixth on 328.

DWAYNE PEARMAN -- Landed another PGA title yesterday.