If yesterday was indeed the Shoot-out's last hurrah at Mid Ocean Club, it was perhaps fitting that two players who have figured prominently in the previous two years' championships found themselves going head to head at the death.

And while not for the first time Scott Hoch found his game wanting when he needed it most -- on the final hole -- it's unlikely Bermuda could have celebrated a more popular winner than Craig Stadler.

The affable Californian might have wondered if history would repeat itself as he found himself sharing pars with Hoch on the last of the nine holes, Mid Ocean's 18th, and forced into a 75-yard shoot-out.

Two years ago he had been in an almost identical situation with Corey Pavin whose exquisite pitch from the same spot relegated Stadler to runner-up.

This time The Walrus came prepared.

The 60-degree wedge, missing from his bag in 1994, was used to full advantage as he caressed his final shot to within eight feet of the pin -- albeit, a shot made much easier after Hoch had dumped his effort into the front bunker.

For Hoch it was a familiar finish. A year ago he had also survived the opening eight holes, playing by far the best golf in the field, only to be beaten by Curtis Strange in a last hole shoot-out.

Again yesterday Hoch played arguably the best of the 10 starters, missing only when it mattered most with a poorly hit wedge that proved fatal.

But nobody could deny Stadler his moment of triumph. A favourite with the gallery since his first visit two years ago, the 1982 Masters champion dodged a bullet at the very first hole after `thinning' his approach shot out of a fairway bunker before recovering with a masterful `up and down' from 65 yards.

And he was rarely in trouble again.

Stadler finished the nine holes at two under par, posting successive birdies at two and three to add to seven pars.

But he admitted Hoch's blunder at the last shaped the final outcome.

"He handed it to me on a silver platter,'' said Stadler moments after receiving his $150,000 winner's cheque. "Once he did that, it was just a matter of me busting a wedge over the bunker and wherever it landed was fine.

"I've had it (wedge) for about four or five months now. And the one thing I haven't got used to is hitting a full shot. I wasn't sure whether I could get it back to the pin or not. But I knew I couldn't hit it further than about six or seven yards past the pin. So Scott made things very easy for me at the end.'' Stadler, meanwhile, had high praise for the local gallery -- estimated in the region of 3,000 -- of whom the majority seemed to be behind him from the start.

"Yeah, I think I had a lot of support today. People were cheering me on, which is great. You like coming to a place you don't get to too often, and then to get this kind of reception was just wonderful.'' For fellow Californian John Cook there was little time to savour the atmosphere yesterday as he became the first casualty, bowing out at the opening hole.

Having recovered brilliantly from a poor lie beneath a tree on the left of the first fairway to land his approach on the green, Cook then proceeded to three-putt from 30 feet for a bogey five. Eight of his rivals got down in regulation while Curtis Strange birdied.

"I didn't leave myself in very good position with the first putt and misread the second one. But that's the way it goes, short but sweet,'' said a philosophical Cook as he returned to the clubhouse. "We had a great time, anyway.'' Next to fall was perhaps Stadler's biggest rival in the popularity stakes, Pavin.

Winner here in 1994, the diminutive 1995 US Open champion put himself in perfect position with a fairway splitting drive on the par five second only to drop his second shot into a bunker in front of the green. From there he took three to get down, sharing pars with Strange and Jim Furyk while the rest of the field all birdied.

And even though Pavin got to pick his spot for the resulting shoot-out, his chip from 30 feet wheeled eight feet past the pin, relieving the pressure on his two opponents who easily chipped inside.

"I deserved to go out,'' he said. "I had an easy up-and-down from out of the bunker and missed that, and then hit a bad chip shot. I should have actually birdied the hole, but I hit two bad shots and that's the way it goes in the shoot-out.'' A year ago, Pavin, then as defending champion, had lasted only as far as the third hole. And the same fate awaited this year's defending champ, Strange who, having dodged a bullet at the the second, was unable to escape at the 172-yard par three.

While Stadler birdied, and five others all got down in two from on or around the green, the two-time US Open winner hit a poor chip from the lip of a greenside bunker, leaving himself with a 10-footer which he missed.

There was temporary respite as Payne Stewart three-putted from 25 feet forcing a two-way shoot-out. But from a bunker to the left of the green, Stewart blasted to six feet while Strange saw his effort roll 15 feet past.

"I was actually beginning to feel pretty good,'' smiled Strange. "But I hit a bad shot and here you can't afford even one bad shot. Payne's bunker shot wasn't that good either, but mine was terrible, and sometimes that happens.'' Stadler wins the Shoot-out Of all the day's bad shots, and as would be expected there weren't that many, arguably the worst came from the club of Paul Azinger.

At the short 333 yard par four fourth, 'Zinger `duck hooked' his two iron tee shot into bushes on the left, was forced to take a penalty drop and eventually wound up with double bogey six.

Four down, six to go.

Kenny Perry, eliminated at the first last year, at least reached the half-way stage this time, but a shoot-out between all six remaining players after each had made light of Mid Ocean's signature hole fifth, marked his demise. From a bunker beneath green, Perry left his effort on the fringe while the rest virtually surrounded the pin.

At the Shoot-out's sixth, Mid-Ocean's long par four 12th, the pros again made look easy a hole which often terrifies the amateurs, each booming drives to within 150 yards of the green.

Hoch birdied with a superb putt from 25 feet after an equally spectacular approach from the rough while Furyk, Stadler and Stewart all parred. Woody Austin should have done likewise, but a mishit chip from the fringe left him a testing 12 foot putt which he left short.

"That was the only bad hole I had,'' said a disenchanted Austin. "I was too scared to hit the ball past the hole. That's my problem, I'm a big chicken.

You can't leave a putt short when you know you have to make it.'' First-timer in Bermuda, Furyk, was next to fall despite hitting the best tee shot on the 238-yard par three 13th -- a four wood to the centre of the green.

He and his three remaining rivals all made par, necessitating another shoot-out which saw Furyk thump a relatively simple chip some eight feet past the pin.

Stadler, Stewart and Hoch marched onto the penultimate hole where it was the turn of Stewart to pay for a misguided tee shot. Buried in a bunker to the left of Mid Ocean's par three 17th, he could only make bogey while the tee shots of Hoch and Stadler made par a formality.

At the last, Hoch marginally outdrove Stadler and fired his approach onto the green a couple of feet inside the ball of his opponent. But both had to settle for par, ensuring the tournament would be decided in the same manner as in previous years.

For Hoch, that signalled a second successive dose of disappointment. For Stadler, a deserved victory.

The Shoot-out at a glance First hole No.1, 418 yard par four: John Cook eliminated with bogey five. ($40,000).

Second hole No.2, 471 yard par five: Corey Pavin eliminated in shoot-out with Curtis Strange and Jim Furyk. ($41,000).

Third hole No.3, 172 yard par three: Strange eliminated in shoot-out with Payne Stewart.

($42,000).

Fourth hole No.4, 330 yard par four: Paul Azinger eliminated with double bogey six.

($43,000).

Fifth hole No.5, 433 yard par four: Kenny Perry eliminated in shoot-out with Scott Hoch, Woody Austin, Stewart, Craig Stadler and Furyk. ($44,000).

Sixth hole No.12, 437 yard par four: Austin eliminated with bogey five. ($45,000).

Seventh hole No.13, 238 yard par three: Furyk eliminated in shoot-out with Stadler, Stewart and Hoch. ($50,000).

Eighth hole No.17, 203 yard par three: Stewart eliminated with bogey four. ($55,000).

Ninth hole No. 18, 421 yard par four: Hoch eliminated in shoot-out with Stadler.

($90,000).

Champion: Craig Stadler ($150,000).

Photos by Arthur Bean and David Skinner CRAIG STADLER -- Finally got his Shoot-out win yesterday.

SHOOT-OUT SNAPSHOTS -- Kenny Perry (above right) blasts to `gimme' distance for a birdie four on number two; Payne Stewart (above) watches as his approach on four heads for the green; Paul Azinger (below left) ponders over a putt; and champion Craig Stadler (below) shares a joke with Premier David Saul.