added his illustrious name to the Bermuda Open, due to be played at Port Royal Golf Course in October.

The 32-year-old two-time Tour winner who has already banked $370,938 in winnings this year, confirmed his entry yesterday.

Andrade, 47th on the money list as of this week, will be the highest-ranked pro ever to have played in a Bermuda Open, which has steadily grown in popularity in recent years and now carries a purse of $50,000.

Also confirmed for the October 16-19 tournament is defending champion Mike Donald.

Hailing from Bristol, Rhode Island, Andrade joined the Tour in 1988 and won back-to-back titles at the Kemper Open and Buick Classic in 1991. He has more than two million dollars in Tour earnings.

Coincidentally, he will arrive on the Island at the same time as 10 of his PGA Tour rivals who will be here for the Merrill Lynch Shoot-out.

The Shoot-out is slated for Tuesday, October 15, the same day as the Open Pro-Am which traditionally precedes the 72-hole championship.

Yesterday organisers of the Shoot-out were playing a waiting game with three of 10 places in the field still to be filled.

Among those on a short-list for the remaining spots are British Open champion Tom Lehman, Phil Mickelson, who on Sunday won his fourth title of the year at the World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio, and Davis Love, another of this year's top 10 PGA Tour money-winners.

However, according to Shoot-out coordinator Larry Sanford, none of the trio have so far accepted invitations.

"We're reluctant to approach other players until we hear back from these three,'' said Sanford yesterday. "But we hope to to wrap things up fairly soon.'' Corey Pavin, the 1994 winner at Mid Ocean Club who was invited back this year, is unlikely to return because of prior commitments.

The $600,000 event at Mid Ocean will mark the third successive year the Tuckers Town club has hosted the tournament.

Already inked in are seven top Tour players -- defending champion Curtis Strange, Payne Stewart, Craig Stadler and Paul Azinger, all of whom received sponsors' exemptions plus Scott Hoch, Woody Austin and Jim Furyk who filled the top three positions after this year's series of Shoot-out play-offs.

Billy Andrade