Michael Sims produced his best round of the year to finish in a tie for fourth after the first round of the Rex Hospitals Open in Raleigh yesterday.The Bermuda professional shot a five-under par 66 on the opening day of the Nationwide Tour event, and his round included a run of six birdies in seven holes.A bogey at the par-three second aside, Sims fired off an error free round, and rattled off his birdies between holes six and 12.Easily his best performance on the tour for some time, Sims is in a five-way tie for fourth, and only a shot back from the leaders, Kyle Reifers, Justin Peters and Matthew Richardson.Much of the attention yesterday was on the sweltering heat and suffocating humidity, but the golf was as hot on the course as the temperatures.Reifers got off to a sizzling start with a birdie-eagle-birdie run on holes 2-4. His eagle was a hole out from 50 yards on the 375-yard, par-4. His second shot on the par-5, 4th stopped 10 feet from the cup but his putt for back-to-back eagles lipped out and he settled for birdie.“I feel my game’s been there the last couple of weeks. I just haven’t gotten the results,” said Reifers, who has missed six straight cuts since a T6 finish at the season-opening Panama Claro Championship. “I’m feeling like I’ve gotten back to just playing golf and it’s taken a while. I worked last year on some technical things and that’s not really me. I’m getting back and getting excited again. I’ve had glimpses and it’s a matter of it all coming together.”Peters, on the other hand, is just happy to be playing, period. The 34-year-old Boston native has been stuck on hold for the past couple of months, a victim of eligibility. Despite finishing the 2010 season with nine consecutive cuts made, he wound up No. 82 on the money list and well down the priority list this year. He has made two starts and missed both cuts, the last coming two months ago.“It was nice to actually be in the tournament on Tuesday,” said Peters, who has been biding his time playing mini-tour events.