second round of the Belmont Invitational yesterday, but it still wasn't enough to give him the lead going into today's final round in the rain-shortened event.

Pearman shot five birdies and an eagle two on the 337-yard par four, but with two bogeys also in his round, found himself three strokes behind leader Paul Parajeckas.

Parajeckas, who hit a second successive 70 for a level par total of 140, has been a top ten finisher for the past three years, but has never won the tournament.

"It's going to be a shoot-out tomorrow,'' said the New England Player of the Year last night.

"I've come close before, but there's a bunch of players just behind me and in this tournament anything can happen.'' The guys Parajeckas is looking over his shoulder at are Kyle Phelps and Kevin Morris, both a shot behind on 141.

Phelps, the young Rhode Islander playing his first Belmont tournament, followed up his 67 on Tuesday with a disappointing four-over 74 yesterday while Morris was almost as consistent as Parajeckas, shooting par to add to his first-round 71.

Parajeckas enjoyed birdies on the 366-yard second and 448-yard par five tenth, but bogeys at the par three fourth and 17th set him back a little as the wind got up for a second day.

"It's a tight golf course which is difficult if you don't know the wind,'' said Parajeckas, the club pro at Woburn, New England. "One bad shot and you can score a big number.

"The whole idea is to get the ball close to the pins. I've been hitting a lot of greens, but if you have to chip it's very hard.

Pearman, meanwhile, a winner here in 1992 and a distant second to Tim Conley last year, will be pleased to have put himself back in contention after a disastrous 78 in his first round.

The disappointment of that came on top of a promising round on Monday, where he made the turn at two-under before torrential rain forced it to be wiped out.

Phelps found the going tougher, bogeying two holes on the way out. He then birdied the tenth, before bogeying again at the 11th. He seemed to overcome his inconsistency, achieving par at the next two and birdies at the 14th and 15th, but further bogeys at the 16th and 17th and a double bogey at the final hole undid the good work and prevented him taking a decent lead into the final day.

By contrast, American Fran Marello, who won in 1994, was in better form yesterday, becoming the only player apart from Pearman to break par, his second-round 69 putting him level with the Bermudian, Tom Waters and Tom Sullivan on 143.

Lying just behind them, on 144, are Thomas Jaeger and Brent Smith, the pros at Holly Hill, New Jersey and Tupper Lake, New York, who are among those staying on for next week's 72-hole best-ball Goodwill Tournament.

Among the amateurs, Belmont's Joey McRonald retained his lead, although it was cut by one stroke to three as he followed up his sparkling 71 with a 77. Gary Carr and Max Atherden are his nearest challengers on 151, with Bill Pitt and Chris Phillips a further shot behind.

Lloyd James and Ed Whalley lost their joint lead for the senior professionals to John Scheffler Sr., whose second-round 74 put him a stroke ahead of James and two up on Whalley, who carded 79 yesterday, on 151.

Keith Smith, the highest-placed Bermudian next to Pearman, was seven-over on 147, while St George's pro Kim Swan improved on his performance of Tuesday with a 74, but was still 14 shots off the lead on 154.

Noel Van Putten, meanwhile, opened up a nine-shot advantage among the senior amateurs, his 75 yesterday putting him in joint 11th overall on 147. Dave Purcell was on 156 with Howard DeSilva a further two strokes back.

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY -- New England pro Paul Parajeckas took a one-shot lead in the Belmont Invitational yesterday with a second successive par round of 70. Bermudian pro Dwayne Pearman enjoyed the best round of the day, his 65 putting him just three shots behind Parajeckas.