Aberdeen-born

Michael Sim now

ranked 94th

in the world


FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
In late March, US Nationwide Tour player Michael Sim was 229th in the Official World Golf Rankings. But thanks to his dominance in his last three starts -- two wins and a play-off loss -- the 24-year-old Sim has done something no full-time Nationwide player has ever achieved.
Sim now is 94th in the world. While no official records are available, Dave Lancer, the PGA Tour's Director of Information, who began working at the TOUR before the inception of the Nationwide Tour two decades ago, said it is the first time a full-time Nationwide pro has been ranked inside the top 100.
And had it not been for the play-off loss at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, the young Australian, who was born in Aberdeen and emigrated Down Under when he was seven, would have earned a three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR.
As it is, Sim can still become the fastest Nationwide Tour player to earn a promotion in a single year. Jason Gore was the quickest when he won three times in his first 11 starts in 2005. Sim's next Nationwide Tour start this season will be his eighth.
Sims' story of the last four years is one of great highs and lows.
In 2005, the young man who owns a textbook golf swing was the No. 1 amateur in the world. In 2006, he won on the Nationwide Tour, which helped propel him to the PGA TOUR, but a stress fracture in his spine derailed his PGA TOUR career the next two years.
Playing through the injury in 2007, he managed 17 PGA TOUR starts, making nine cuts and earnings of $399,900 (ranking 162nd on the money list). In 2008, he played in just seven TOUR events and was sidelined most of the summer and fall.
Signs of encouraging play came, however, in October 2008 when Sim produced ties for seventh and 18th in the final two PGA TOUR events of the year.
His comeback has continued in dramatic fashion. In November, Sim shared the 54-hole lead with Robert Allenby at the Australian Masters, only to fall back on Sunday to 11th. In February he had a strong finish (tie for seventh) in the European Tour/PGA Tour of Australasia's Johnnie Walker Classic.
Since March 1, Sim has finished third and fourth in Australia and New Zealand, respectively, won the Stonebrae Classic in California and lost in a play-off to Patrick Sheehan in Athens, Georgia. His only blemish during this stretch was a missed cut at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open in mid-March.
Sim's dominating stats
• In his 30 rounds this year (eight starts, including the Johnnie Walker Classic), Sim is a cumulative 78 under par.
• Of those 30 rounds, 19 have been in the 60s, which includes a 62, a 63 and a pair of 64s
• He is 54 under in his last three starts and has not shot over par in any of the 12 rounds
• His $367,417 in earnings is $211,136 ahead of No. 2, Garth Mulroy; the largest one-week difference between No. 1 and No. 2 was Troy Matteson's $138,430 lead over Jason Gore at the end of the 2005 season
• His year-to-date earnings already rank 16th in Tour history for a single season (Matteson holds the record for most money won in one year -- $495,009 in 2005); he is averaging $52,488 per start, well ahead of Brendan Jones' mark of $36,589 in his eight starts in 2004
• Of the Nationwide Tour's 10 stat categories, he is in the top five in all but three (Driving Distance, Eagles and Sand Save Percentage); he leads in four -- Scoring Average, All-Around Ranking, Total Driving and Putting Average