career earnings when he plays his second competitive golf event in Bermuda next week.

But, as with all who compete in the annual Lobster Pot Pro-Am, prizemoney won't be a key incentive for the veteran Australian, a winner of nine Tour events from 1964 through to 1995.

Devlin, whose last victory was on the Senior Tour, at the FHP Healthcare Classic, leads one of 27 overseas teams, many of them making repeat appearances in what has become a popular winter tournaments where camaraderie seemingly counts for more than cash.

A winner at such PGA events as the Colonial Invitational (1966), the Byron Nelson Classic (1969), the Bob Hope Desert Classic (1970) and the Houston Open (1972), 59-year-old Devlin heads a team from Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Originally from Armidale, Australia, he first played on the Island more than three decades ago at Mid Ocean Club in the televised Shell Series of golf.

This time his travels take him to Castle Harbour which again plays host to a tournament now in its 21st year.

Among his opponents will be out-of-work broadcaster Ben Wright who was dropped from the CBS network last year following controversial remarks about lesbians on the LPGA Tour.

Wright, a mid-handicapper, is part of a three-team contingent arriving from the Champion Hills Club in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Defending Lobster Pot Pro champion Tim Conley, now concentrating on the Nike Tour, won't be here to offer a challenge to Devlin in the one-round pro championship next Thursday, but the Australian will likely get some competition from big-hitting Tom Smack, the former Castle Harbour golf director, who again brings a team from the Sagamore club in New York as well as Mickey Herron from Hyannis GC (beaten by Conley in a play-off last year), John Fields from Belmont GC in Massachusetts and Bill Andrews from Nashua CC in New Hampshire.

The week-long event includes the 54-hole Pro-Am (Monday, Tuesday and Friday), the fifth annual Charity Invitation Pro-Am (Wednesday) and the Amateur and Professional Championships (Thursday).