Clamour is growing for Dwayne Pearman to take his talents abroad after the Ocean View pro broke an Island course record in tournament play this week.

Pearman's seven-under-par 63 in the first round of the 54-hole CB Open at Belmont beat the 64 held by the club's own pro Cornell Bean among others. And his performance comes a little over a week after his finish in the Trinidad Open, where he came sixth ahead of several Nike and European Tour regulars.

Pearman, 35, recently expressed a desire to take a second shot at earning his card for the PGA or Nike tours, and is widely acknowledged as the best the Island has to offer.

His ambition is backed by Bermuda Professional Golfers' Association spokesman Duncan Hall, who expressed astonishment when told of the round, which included a superb eagle on the 448-yard par five 10th to add to birdies at holes five, six, 12, 16 and 17.

Hall said: "Dwayne's such a fine player. He's capable of great things. We've got to find a way to get him overseas.

"I remember some years ago him hitting a 68 in the final round to win the Bermuda Open on a really windy, rainy day. That may not sound that great but other guys were struggling to hit 72s and 73s. It was just incredible. He's far and away our best professional but he just doesn't get the competition here.'' Pearman himself remains laid back about the prospect. "A round like that does make you more determined to try for one of the tours. But if it comes about, great. If not, it's no big deal.

"I'd like to go back to qualifying school in October and maybe play a few Monday qualifiers. You can play well and if it's your turn, it's your turn.

"But going away would be the hard thing. I've got a wife and two kids, and although she's behind me and she'd support me if I made it, it'd be tough.'' Although official records are not kept by the BPGA or the Bermuda Golf Association, one of the competition's organisers, Barry DeCouto admitted: "I can't think of too many 63s in tournament play.'' The lowest tournament scores for the other championship courses on Bermuda are known to be 64 at Castle Harbour, Mid Ocean and Riddell's Bay and 65 at Port Royal.

Pearman said: "I've hit 62 here before but they wouldn't let me have it because it wasn't in a tournament.

"I played pretty steady and made a lot of pars. I hit about 14 greens and I got up and down on the ones I did miss.'' It would have been expecting too much for Pearman to have kept up his record-breaking performance in yesterday's second round, but in windier conditions his one-under 69 was still two shots better than any other round on the day. That put him 10 strokes ahead of his nearest challenger, 1997 winner JJ Madeiros.

DWAYNE PEARMAN -- still aiming for a spot on the PGA Tour.