Michael Sims has put himself in a strong position after round one of PGA Tour Q School’s final stage — shooting an even-par 72 yesterday in La Quinta, California to finish tied for 24th out of 153 golfers.

With five rounds to go, there is still a huge amount of golf to be played, but if the Island’s top golfer were to stay inside the top 30 and ties, he would automatically receive his PGA Tour card.

The 27-year-old began yesterday’s round on the 7,126-yard Jack Nicklaus tournament course in sensational fashion, birdieing the opening three holes and at one stage finding himself in a tie for second overall.

Unfortunately he wasn’t able to maintain the momentum from that rip-roaring start, bogeying the fourth, ninth and 15th holes to slip back to even par — still well above such well-known golfing figures such as Duffy Waldorf (plus-three) and former US Open champion Lee Janzen (plus-one).

While the top 30 and ties will make it to the promised land of the PGA Tour, the 50 next-best finishers get 12-month exemptions to play on the Nationwide Tour — one rung down from the PGA but a lucrative and prestigious circuit nonetheless.

But while Sims will have returned to his hotel room last night satisfied with his opening effort, he will be well aware that there are plenty of potential stumbling blocks ahead of him in a competition widely regarded as the stiffest test of golfing endurance, patience and consistency around.

[bul]In Wednesday’s Royal Gazette <$>it was incorrectly stated that Sims is sponsored by local insurance giants Ace. Sims has in fact been sponsored by XL Capital for the last few years, as well as Belmont Hills Golf Club.