lead to take into today's final round of the Black Seal Invitational.

And his closest challenger Dwayne Pearman believes that only a complete breakdown of Conley's game could deny the American his fifth title at the Belmont Golf Club.

Pearman, Bermuda's top professional, kept in touch with Conley with a 66 of his own for a 54-hole score of 211.

"He (Conley) would have to go haywire to lose now,'' conceded Ocean View-based Pearman, who was the last Bermudian to win the tournament in 1992.

The pair were the only players to break par in yesterday's third round, on another windy day when defending champion Paul Parajeckas saw his chances of a third successive title fade.

Parajeckas shot 73, including a seven at the 11th, and although he is still third on the leaderboard he has slipped to 10 strokes off the lead.

Four strokes further back is 20-year-old Southampton Princess teaching pro Andrew Trott, who shot 72 and is tied for fourth place on 218 with Americans Kevin Morris and first-round leader Tom Sullivan.

Scotsman Ronnie Milton, who started the day in third place and in serious contention, followed his second-round 70 with a third-round 80, including a 10 at the 10th, and is now 19 shots adrift of Conley.

Conley, who won the tournament formerly known as the Belmont Invitation in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1996 and played on the Nike Tour last summer, is playing with great confidence, as best illustrated by 10-foot birdie putts at the 13th and 15th holes.

His scores have improved with each round but the Georgia-based player was looking to finish the tournament with a safety-first policy.

"If I was four or five shots ahead, I would have to be careful, but with a seven-shot lead, I can afford to play conservatively and just make sure I hit the fairways,'' said Conley. "I want to make Dwayne have to shoot 62 or 63 to beat me.'' The leader, who started the day three strokes ahead, had not expected things to go so well.

"When I heard the weather forecast for 30-40 miles per hour winds, I didn't think anybody would break par today -- I thought 72 would be a decent score,'' said Conley.

"I thought if I could hang around par, then maybe I'd increase my lead. But to score 66 and not gain any ground over Dwayne shows how well he played.

"Dwayne and I have played a lot of competitive golf together and I like to think we're good friends. We used to play on the Canadian Tour and he's stayed over at my house in Atlanta.

"He was playing in front of me and he made four great putts in a row and I was thinking he must be catching me up.'' Pearman was well satisfied with his four-under-par round, particularly after a severe lack of golf over the past three months due to a rib injury which sidelined him for a PGA Tour qualifying event last October.

"I'm about 90 percent now and I can let loose,'' said Pearman. "But I've played very little for 11 or 12 weeks.

"I did not really prepare myself well for this tournament. This is the first week I've really been able to hit it.'' Pearman's 66 was a huge improvement on his 72 and 73 on the first two days.

"I think I've been worrying too much about where not to hit it and today I was thinking more about where I did want to hit it,'' said Pearman.

"This is a small course and I know it well and I feel I should be shooting mid to high 60s.'' He felt his chances of catching Conley were slim and he added: "I've just got to do the best I can and hope he makes mistakes.'' In the separate stableford competition for the amateurs, Joe McRonald jnr.

opened up a two-point lead over Adley Madeiros after the two had started the day joint leaders.

McRonald has 118 points to Madeiros's 116, with Mike Shaw (114) and Bobby McRonald (113) their closest challengers.

Improvement: Dwayne Pearman