Bermuda's rising golf star Michael Sims carded a sizzling six-under-par 66 at the prestigious US Amateur in Atlanta, Georgia, yesterday, booking his place in today's first round of match play.

Fired up by magnificent eagle-two on the par-four third hole, where he holed a sand wedge from 104 yards, Sims proceeded to soar up the leaderboard from his overnight position of 31st.

When the dust had settled with the two medal qualifying rounds complete, the 22-year-old Rhode Island University student was in a tie for third place on seven-under-par 135 in a field which features almost all of the world's top amateurs.

Of the many overseas players in the field, he was ranked first, headed in the overall entry only by two Americans _ one of whom, Chris Mundorf, yesterday carded a nine-under-par 63 to top the qualifiers on eight-under 134.

To further illustrate the magnitude of Sims' achievement, his placing put him ahead of the entire British and Ireland Walker Cup team who last week retained that trophy by beating the Americans at nearby Sea Island in Georgia.

But with his first round of match play scheduled today and, if successful, another six rounds ahead in order to reach the final, Sims was keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

From his hotel in Atlanta last night, he said: "To be honest, I struggled a bit today, but overall I'm playing well and I'm happy with my putting. My game's in pretty good shape.

"But from here it's match play. Anything can happen. You can't worry about who your opponent is, you just have to play as well as you can and take every shot one at a time."

Following a one-under par 69 in the opening qualifying round, played on the 7,007 yard, par-70 East Lakes Country Club on Monday, Sims moved to the 6,561-yard par-72 Druids Hill GC yesterday where he played an amazing round that included two eagles, six birdies and four bogeys, all adding up to a six-under 66.

"To be honest I preferred the East Lakes which is longer and more difficult," said Sims. "Today we were hitting a lot of short irons, the course wasn't nearly as long."

From here, the tournament is held exclusively at East Lakes where Sims' long driving could prove a potent weapon.

Should he get past today, he would then face two matches each over 18 holes tomorrow.

This year's Amateur started with 312 players, all of whom had to qualify. Only the top 64 have advanced to the match play phase.

Former winners include such greats as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Bobby Jones.