This was bad news for Eardley Jones yesterday but it's good news for Bermuda as the World Professional Golf Championships loom on the horizon.

Pearman coolly dispatched the veteran Jones three and two to win the Lobster Pot Bermuda PGA Match Play championships at Riddells Bay -- then proncounced himself fit to join Kim Swan as the Island's entry in the World Cup qualifier in Jamaica next month.

Pearman, who won the Bermuda strokeplay title in March, didn't even pick up a club for much of the summer due to a lingering neck injury. But he hit the links three weeks ago and endured a rough start to the four-day tournament before regaining his rhythm yesterday.

"This was by far my best day,'' said Pearman, the defending champion, who pocketed $1,450 for his win.

"The last couple of days I haven't been feeling very confident and I didn't feel comfortable at all with my set up. But today I got an early jump and that certainly helped.'' Indeed the 33-year-old Ocean View pro won the first three holes, lost the fourth, then took the fifth and seventh with birdies to lead by four heading onto the back nine.

But if Jones was worried he wasn't saying. A semi-retired 57-year-old, Jones produced a sizzling four days and upset Steven DaCosta in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

"I've been in the game a long time. I just go out there, play the best I can and don't give up,'' he said. Said Pearman: "I never counted him out. I don't count anybody out. I don't care who I'm playing.'' A birdie on 11 enabled Jones to pull within three but that was as close as he got. Later Jones said he was "very happy'' with second place "especially against a guy like Dwayne.'' The second-place cheque for $770 was nice, too.

Swan, who lost to Pearman in the semi-final, breezed past DaCosta six and five for third place, earning $520 in the process. He was only two up heading onto the ninth hole -- then promptly won four of the next six.

Swan is hoping he and Pearman can play together over the next month to prepare for the World Cup qualifier. Because it's a team aggregate tournament, "we're totally dependent on each other's game'' and it's important, Swan says, that their personalities mesh.

Last year the pair were only five shots away from qualifying.

First up, however, is the New England Match Play Championships in which a ten-man Bermuda team, including Jones, Pearman and Swan, take on the best of the US East Coast on August 31.