Michael Sims will face two of the most nerve-racking rounds of his professional career today and tomorrow after carding a second round two-under par 70 at PGA Tour Q School yesterday to finish tied for 14th.

Bermuda?s number one golfer is now six-under for the tournament at the Lake Jovita Country Club in Dade City, Florida, and must finish in the top 20 and ties to make it through to the third and final qualifying stage ? an achievement which would bring with it at least a conditional pass to play on the Nationwide Tour next year.

While Sims has shot under par in both rounds so far, scoring for the two days has been extremely low, with overnight leader Andrew Johnson from Florida shooting nine-under yesterday to finish on -13 for the tournament ? a lead of just one shot.

And Sims is only one shot better off than a group of nine golfers tied for 20th position as well ? all of which means the 27-year-old cannot afford the remotest slip up in the final two rounds and will most likely have to shoot under par for the entire week to qualify.

Meanwhile, demonstrating the much-needed consistency which has characterised his play so far, Sims reeled off 14 pars, three birdies and only one bogey in yesterday?s round of 70 ? playing the par fives impressively once again in two-under.

Since turning professional in his early 20s, Sims has fallen at the second-phase hurdle on six occasions and apart from the odd appearance at a Nationwide Tour event when he has made it through the ?crap-shoot? of Monday qualifying, his career so far has seen him play mainly on most of North America?s smaller and less lucrative golf circuits such as the New England Tour, the Hooters Tour and the now defunct Maverick Tour.

Earlier this year, however, Sims enjoyed a major breakthrough when he earned his card to compete on the Canadian PGA Tour, which does not offer many high-profile tournaments, but is generally regarded as an ideal stepping-stone to the highest level.

Even if he does qualify for Q School?s final stage, which will be played over four rounds at the PGA West-TPC stadium course in La Quinta, California later this month, he will still have to perform better than he has ever done before to earn one of the highly-coveted playing cards for either the PGA or Nationwide.