Sims comes out of nowhere

By Ryan Yemen
Published: June 20, 2008

GORDONSVILLE — Entering the final round of the Spring Creek Classic seven strokes behind leader Jesse Smith, Michael Sims didn’t have much on his mind except putting up a good score and letting the chips fall where they may.

“To be honest I wasn’t thinking about anything when I took the tee box except working on my game,” Sims said. “It was just trying find [my ball] and go hit it.”

All that changed after Sims put up a final round of 66.

It put him on the top of the leaderboard at 11-under for the tournament. With Smith, Hank Kim and Andy Bare just halfway through the back nine, Sims was forced to wait things out on the clubhouse patio before beginning any celebrations. It wasn’t long until the round was up, and by the time the last group came in, Sims was still on top.

The 66 was good enough for a tie for the low round of the day. Sims put it together by piling up seven birdies, three of them coming of par-5s, while recording just one bogey.

“I missed only one green today,” Sims said. “From there on out I was hitting the ball phenomenal, which was not the case the first two days.”

Sims shot a 69 in the first round and followed it up with a 70 on Thursday.

“I talked to my teacher last night and he gave me a couple of drills to do on the range this morning and I just kind of felt really good,” Sims said.

While winning after trailing seven strokes is an uncanny comeback, Sims got an awful lot of help from Kim, Bare and Smith.

It was an awfully long round for the leaders coming into the final round. All three posted their highest rounds of the tournament with Kim shooting 72 while Bare and Smith shot 74 and 75, respectively.

Kim finished the tournament two strokes back, tied with Scott Weatherly for third place. Smith wound up tied for fifth while Bare placed ninth.

For Sims, it’s been an interesting week to say the least. He went from missing the cut in last week’s Warrior Classic to walking away with a check for $20,000.

“For me I’m just going through the process of trying to make the PGA tour,” Sims said. “It’s nice to see results. I just have to keep on learning and figure myself out. It’s all there you just have to know how to use it.”

Sims wasn’t the first man back to the clubhouse to play the waiting game. Cory Kauffman put up a 66 as well to put him 10-under for the tournament, putting him in second.

“I hit the ball pretty well all week but I was able to get a few putts to fall here and there today,” Kauffman said. “I hit my driver pretty well and this place gets a lot easier if you’re able to get to the pins from the fairway. I drove it well off the tee and the iron shots were there.”

Unfortunately for Kauffman, his lead was only temporary.

“I did it last week so I know what it’s like,” Kauffman said.  “You know whatever happens, happens. You shoot what you can. If I could just put three rounds together. Usually I put in two good ones and one not so bad. If I could put three together I’d be in great shape.”

A matter of minutes after Kauffman finished, Sims birdied the 16th hole to tie. Sims took control of the lead on his last shot of the day, a birdie put on the par-5 18th hole.