Golf-Sim looks for Nationwide inspiration in Torrey title bid (Reuters)
January 30, 2010
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
SAN DIEGO, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Australian Michael Sim aimsto draw on the experience of his golden Nationwide Tourcampaign last year when he bids for victory in Sunday’s finalround of the San Diego Open.
Sim triumphed three times on the PGA Tour’s satellitecircuit in 2009, ending the season as player of the year withrecord earnings of $644,142.
On Saturday, he birdied two of the last three holes atTorrey Pines for a two-under-par 70 and he will go into thelast day two strokes behind the pacesetting Ryuji Imada ofJapan.
“Tomorrow I’m going to try and go out there and just playthe golf course probably until I get to the back nine,” Sim,25, told reporters after posting an 11-under total of 205.
“Par is a very good score out here on this golf course,especially if the wind gets up like it did this afternoon.
“If I can go out there tomorrow and play like I did on theback nine today, I’ve got a really good shot at winning thetournament.”
Asked if his Nationwide Tour experience last year had givenhim an extra jolt of confidence in pursuit of his maiden PGATour victory, Sim replied: “Definitely.
“I’m happy to be out here now. I played last week at theBob Hope (Classic) and played quite well.
“Now I’ve got an opportunity this week to win a golftournament and I’d like to take full opportunity of thattomorrow.”
Sim, the top-ranked amateur in the game in 2005, has notplayed at Torrey Pines since he competed for the Junior WorldChampionship in 2002.
“I think I finished about 30th, but obviously now there area lot more additional tee boxes and it is a lot longer,” saidthe Scotland-born professional whose best PGA Tour finish was atie for seventh at the 2008 Arizona Open.
“You’ve got to hit the ball well and putt well out here. Itis a U.S. Open golf course,” Sim added, referring to the venuefor the 2008 U.S. Open. “It’s very demanding.” (Editing by John O’Brien; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
