week's $50,000 Bermuda Open golf championships.

The 46-year-old Buffalo, New York resident, a close friend of Bermuda pro Kim Swan, will be the only current PGA Tour pro competing in the 72-hole tournament, which gets underway at Port Royal on Thursday.

He follows in the footsteps of Texan Tour member John Mahaffey, who competed last year, finishing fifth.

Thorpe, who turned pro in 1972 and joined the Tour in 1978, has career earnings of almost $2 million. His best year was back in 1985 when he pocketed $379,091, winning that year the Greater Milwaukee Open and the Seiko Tucson Match Play Championship, defeating Jack Renner in the final.

He won the Seiko Match Play title again in 1986, beating Scott Simpson in the final.

The ninth of 12 children, Thorpe has been plagued by injury this year and played in only a handful of Tour events.

Last year he earned $185,714 on the Tour to place 95th on the money list, his best finishes being a fourth at the Doral Ryder Open and an eighth at the Motorola Western Open.

While, the only Tour pro in this week's Open field of 102, Thorpe is likely to be challenged by any number of visiting professionals, in particular Patrick Horgan who won the Open back in 1986 and only lost his Tour card last year.

Swan (1983 and 1984) and Dwayne Pearman (1991) are among the local Open champions in the field while Tim Conley, winner in 1987, Bob Mucha (1989), Tim Balmer (1990), Gene Fieger (1992), Jeff Lewis (1993, 1985) and last year's winner, Canadian Stuart Hendley make up an impressive list of past winners.

Awaiting the winner will be a cheque for $12,000.

Open to players only with a handicap of six or better, the tournament will have its field cut by half (including ties) for Sunday's final round.

Bermuda's Hav Trott has won the right to represent the Island, along with Henry Ascento, at next month's Simon Bolivar tournament in Caracas, Venezuela.

After Bermuda Golf Association were invited to send a two-man team to the November 6-12 tournament, Ascento was picked automatically while a 36-hole play-off was held at Port Royal, the second round in conjunction with Saturday's BGA medal competition, to decide the second representative.

At the finish Leroy Burch, Bill Pitt and Trott were tied, but at the first sudden death play-off hole Trott came away with a par which proved sufficient to clinch victory. Ascento was the top player during Saturday's medal, firing an even par 71.