ABERDONIAN MICHAEL SIM FINISHES

JOINT 11TH IN JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

- HIS BEST YET ON US PGA TOUR

Aberdeen-born Michael Sim finished joint 11th - his best yet on his seventh start in his US PGA Tour rookie season - in the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, Silvis in Illinois.

His cash prize of $90,200 was also his biggest this season, although he did earn roughly the same amount in scoring a victory on the Nationwide Tour last year.
The 22-year-old, who emigrated with his parents from Westhill when he was seven and was brought up in Perth, Western Australia, becoming the world No 1 amateur (before Richie Ramsay!) before he turned pro in 2005, had rounds of 69, 67, 68 and 68 for a 12-under-par total of 272 over the par-72 course.
Sim bogeyed the first and the 11th but he had birdies at the second, third, fourth, eighth and 15th in halves of 32 and 36 in his final round of 68 which moved him up two notches on the leaderboard from a start of the day tied 13th position.
Michael gained promotion to the US PGA Tour by finishing among the top 20 moneywinners on last year's Nationwide Tour. But he was dealt a body blow last November when he was diagnosed with a stress fracture the lower back. Rest was the real cure and he did not make his debut on the No 1 circuit until May.
He finished 18th on his first start and earned $76,860 but then missed three cuts in a row, raising fears that his spine problem was still there. But Michael cleared that loss-of-confidence hurdle and finished joint 36th and joint 73rd in this fifth and sixth outings on the US PGA Tour, boosting his earnings to $113,310. He also won $10,200 on a one-off return to the Nationwide Tour.

This latest addition to his bank balance of $90,200 gives him a running total of $203,510 from seven starts (three missed cuts) on the US PGA Tour.
Sim averaged 304 yards off the tee in the John Deere Classic and 1.7 putts per green.
He finished only six strokes behind the tournament winner, American Jonathan Byrd who scored 67, 68, 65 and 66 for 266. Byrd birdied three of the last five holes for a victory that earns him a place in the Open field on Thursday and the news is that he will fly to Scotland today if he can fix up the flights.
Because Sim missed so many events at the start of the season he was never going to qualify for a place at Carnoustie as one of the leading money-winners on the US PGA Tour.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC FINAL TOTALS

The TPC at Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois.

Par 284 (4 x 71)

266 Jonathan Byrd 67 68 65 66
267 Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 65 66 68.
269 Nathan Green (Aus) 67 63 68 71, Troy Matteson 69 67 67 66
270 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 67 64 71 68
271 Jason Dufner 65 66 72 68, Neal Lancaster 64 68 70 69, Jeff Gove 69 68 66 68, Kevin Sutherland 66 67 70 68, Heath Slocum 70 69 67 65
272 Kenny Perry 65 68 68 71, Michael Sim (Sco) 69 67 68 68, Billy Mayfair 69 66 67 70, Lucas Glover 71 69 65 67
273 J P Hayes 70 65 69 69, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 69 69 67 68, Briny Baird 67 70 68 68
274 Marco Dawson 68 72 69 65, Brian Gay 72 63 66 73, Greg Kraft 69 71 68 66, Tommy Armour III 69 70 68 67
275 Chris Stroud 71 67 68 69, Paul Stankowski 65 70 69 71, Ted Purdy 70 70 69 66, Darron Stiles 70 70 71 64, Chris Couch 68 69 72 66, George McNeill 71 69 70 65, Cameron Beckman 67 70 68 70, Tim Petrovic 68 68 72 67, Dicky Pride 70 69 67 69, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 69 68 71 67
276 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 68 69 67, Tim Herron 69 69 71 67, Harrison Frazar 69 68 73 66, D. J. Trahan 67 68 71 70, Steve Allan (Aus) 71 66 70 69, Kevin Na (Kor) 68 69 72 67, Craig Lile (Rsa) 67 71 69 69, Scott Gutschewski 65 71 72 68, Brandt Snedeker 69 68 73 66.
277 Charles Warren 68 71 71 67, Kirk Triplett 67 72 69 69, Tom Byrum 69 70 71 67, Jeff Overton 70 66 69 72, Bob May 66 67 71 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 68 70 68, John Huston 70 68 72 67, Bob Heintz 67 70 71 69, Mark Brooks 70 68 66 73
278 Chris Tidland 69 69 69 71, Duffy Waldorf 65 68 73 72, Paul Goydos 67 71 74 66, Woody Austin 72 67 69 70.
279 Chris Riley 72 67 72 68, John Merrick 72 67 70 70, Gavin Coles (Aus) 72 68 68 71
280 Tom Johnson 68 68 72 72, Paul Gow (Aus) 69 68 72 71, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 68 71 73 68, Joe Ogilvie 71 68 72 69, Brady Schnell 70 68 73 69
281 Brendon De Jonge 67 68 74 72, Kent Jones 67 72 72 70, Vance Veazey 69 69 73 70, Bronson LaCassie (Aus) 71 66 74 70, Jason Gore 69 68 78 66
282 Jay Williamson 70 70 69 73, Douglas Labelle 70 68 69 75
285 Jose Coceres (Arg) 71 69 71 74
288 Grant Waite (Nzl) 71 69 75 73
289 Jerry Smith 70 69 74 76, Jim Rutledge (Can) 72 68 73 76